Battling Past Demons
by Numpty
Summary: Story now COMPLETE!! Chapter 11 and Epilogue are up. What will happen to Jesse? Please read and review!!
1. Return to LA

Hi everyone, thanks for your reviews on "Like Father Like Son" please continue to review, I need encouragement! "Battling Past Demons" is the sequel to "Like Father Like Son". Just a short taster of more to come!  
  
Promise the other chapters will be longer!!!  
  
All disclaimers apply.  
  
Summary: Angel and Diagnosis Murder crossover. Jack returns to Community General, and The Angel Investigations group are called in to help Jesse.  
  
Chapter 1: Return to LA  
BATTLING PAST DEMONS  
  
It was the end of another long shift for Jesse Travis, and he wanted nothing more than to go home to his girlfriend. He groaned inwardly when he realised that she was away in Europe on assignment with the CIA. He rubbed his tired eyes, and tried to flatten his hair, failing as he usually did.  
  
Looking at his watch, he saw that it was well past two in the morning, and his shift started in another six hours. Finally admitting defeat, he headed to the doctor's lounge hoping for some much-needed sleep. The last few months had been great, he thought as he settled down on the couch. He, Steve, Mark, Amanda and Kealy had returned from Rome, and began to get on with their lives. He and Kealy had moved in together, and his dad, unsurprisingly, had left him again. It had felt good, at first, returning to Community General after his Italian ordeal, and then he realised just how little he had missed his job. Everything had been normal. But as Jesse was drifting off to sleep, he had no idea what was being planned for him.  
  
When Jesse woke up later in the morning, he didn't feel very refreshed; after all, he did have another 16-hour shift ahead of him. The morning was uneventful, a few minor casualties and one car crash. But the major surprise happened much later. He'd thought it was odd, that he hadn't seen Mark or Amanda, or even Steve for that matter. It wasn't long before he found the answer.  
  
Whilst on a break, he headed down to Mark's office. As he reached the door, he heard excited, animated voices from within. Pushing the door open, he stopped suddenly when he saw a person he didn't recognise. Mark, Amanda and Steve were there, but who was the other guy? A tall dark haired man was being fawned over by the others.  
  
The group all turned towards him as he stood in the doorway. Mark obviously hadn't noticed Jesse's shocked expression, for he smiled at him and spoke to the stranger. "Jack, this is Dr. Jesse Travis," and turning towards Jesse he then said, "Jesse, this is Dr. Jack Stewart, he's come back from his clinic in Colorado for a holiday! Boy did we have many adventures!" And that was when Jesse's life took a turn for the worse.  
  
"Oh, hey," Jesse said, as enthusiastically as he could, and stretched out his hand, which was duly shaken by Jack.  
  
"Hi Jesse. I've heard a lot about you"  
  
"Likewise" laughed Jesse uncomfortably. Mark, Steve and Amanda failed to notice Jesse's mounting unease; they were so excited to see their old friend back after so long. The group chatted for a few moments, Jesse not having a lot to say as the others were talking about past adventures that he had not been involved in.  
  
"I should be going.I have surgery in 15 minutes"  
  
"Ok Jess! We're just heading over to Bob's for lunch! Shame you can't join us!" Steve said, Jesse could see no disappointment in his eyes that Jesse wasn't coming. He turned around sadly and walked briskly down to the ER, of course, he didn't actually have surgery, it was just that he couldn't stand pretending to be happy about Jack's return any longer. The rest of the afternoon was hectic, a train collision meant that Jesse was on overdrive. Ten seriously injured people had been rushed in, plus god knew how many others with minor injuries, and some DOAs.  
  
It was very late when Jesse was finally granted a couple of hour's break. He knew that Mark should still be on shift, so he went to find him, thinking that they could grab a coffee. When he wasn't in his office, Jesse went to reception to ask there. "Could you tell me where Dr. Sloan is?"  
  
"Em, Ah yes! Dr. Travis? Dr. Sloan is on vacation."  
  
"Since When?"  
  
"Since this afternoon!"  
  
"And what about Dr. Bentley?"  
  
"She is also on vacation"  
  
"I don't believe this!" Jesse muttered to himself. "Thanks anyway!" he said to the receptionist. So they had left him alone, gone on leave without telling him. Was he not their friend? Just because Jack was here they were going to leave him out? He walked dejectedly back to the doctor's lounge and settled down on the couch. He just felt really left out, although they had invited him to go to BBQ Bobs with them, he didn't get the feeling that they really wanted him there. Also, the thing that probably scared him the most, and he really didn't want to admit this to himself, but he was scared that Jack would replace him as Steve's best friend. That was something he would never tell anyone! Thoughts of a similar nature ran through his as he sat down by himself and made himself a coffee. Alone.  
  
* * * *  
  
Kealy Banks rested back in her chair, sighing as she glanced at a photo of her and Jesse on the desk. She really missed him.  
  
I wonder what he's doing now, she thought, I just wish I was there with him.  
  
But she knew that this was for his own safety. She'd had to keep the search for James Seville a secret. Kealy had worked as a double agent for the CIA in Seville's terrorist organisation; Seville had kidnapped Jesse a few months ago, and had kept him prisoner in Italy. Jesse had rescued her from the crumbling wreckage of the SW-13 headquarters, and right now thought that Seville had been killed in the blast. Kealy had never set him straight on that one, she knew he would just have worried. She also had every reason to believe that Seville would be after her, or possibly even Jesse, he now knew that she had been working for the CIA and would want revenge. So, to keep Jesse safe, she had deliberately taken an assignment in France.  
  
Her thoughts were interrupted when Agent Vaughn, and her supervisor, Special Agent Renfield. "Kealy."  
  
"Sir?"  
  
"Kealy, we've had a sighting of Seville. A positive ID!" Kealy nearly fell off her chair.  
  
"W-Where? Near here?"  
  
"No, he was caught on camera at a warehouse-in LA" Kealy was shocked to the core.  
  
"He's going after Jesse." she whispered.  
To be continued.. 


	2. Angel Investigations

Hi everyone, thanks for all your reviews! I do appreciate it! A lot of people have been asking me about Angel and how he's going to slot in and what characters are gonna be involved etc.  
  
I have to say, I wasn't actually gonna put Doyle in this story, but so many people, wuemsel for one, were so desperate for him to be in it. So, as I like the other characters as well as Doyle, I'm just gonna put all of them in it. Oh and by the way, Cordelia still gets the visions, I like it better that way! And as for how Angel fits in, you're just gonna have to wait and see.  
  
Disclaimer: the characters Mark, Steve, Jack, Jesse, Amanda, Cordelia, Angel, Doyle, Wesley and Gunn do not belong to me but to their respective producers Viacom, Fox etc I am not making any profit from these characters, but am just borrowing them for fun.  
Chapter 2: Angel Investigations  
  
Mark, Steve, Jack and Amanda sat round a fully laden table at BBQ Bob's gazing hungrily at the huge platter before them. It felt just like old times. The group laughed and joked for many hours, enjoying the feeling that being back together again brought to them. Jack was just the same as he remembered him, the same fun loving, easygoing guy, except older and wiser of course! And he felt just the same about his old friends. He'd really missed them. Why did I ever go? He was asking himself, I love these guys! His thoughts were interrupted by Mark's voice.  
  
"Jack? Can you hear me! Is anyone there!"  
  
"Ha Ha! Very funny! I was just lost in thought- Hey shutup you two!" he joked as Steve and Amanda had scoffed at his remark.  
  
"So Mark, what were you saying?"  
  
"In all the excitement of having you back, I forgot to actually ask you why you came!"  
  
"Are you that sorry to see me?"  
  
"No I-  
  
"Just kidding Mark! Anyway you know why I'm here"  
  
"No we don't actually" piped up Amanda, "Not that we're unhappy to see you, but why are you here?"  
  
"Are you serious? " said Jack looking puzzled, " But you sent me a letter"  
  
"Who sent you a letter?" questioned Steve, taking on his usual police persona.  
  
"Hey steady on Buddy! Mark, you sent me a letter, you know you did!"  
  
"No Jack I didn't! I swear!"  
  
"Hang on. Nice Try! You're just kidding me right?"  
  
But One look at their stony faces told him that they were indeed not joking.  
  
"Well if none of you guys didn't, then who did? And why?"  
  
"What was the letter like?" Steve jumped in.  
  
"Now that you mention it, I did think it was kinda odd." said Jack in his Brooklyn accent, ".that the letter was typed"  
  
"You mean after all the cases we've worked on together, you still wouldn't notice anything remotely suspicious?" Steve teased.  
  
"Maybe I just don't have a suspicious nature" Jack hit back, much to Steve's enjoyment. It was great having his friend back again, and they could solve the mystery of Jack's letter together. Just like old times. His only wish was that Jesse could part of it. Secretly he'd always known that if Jack had ever come back then Jesse would feel left out. It really left Steve in a dilemma, Jack was his old friend, and Jesse was his new friend. He liked them both equally. But neither of them would see it that way.  
  
"So Steve, what about this Jesse Travis?" Jack moved onto a new conversation topic.  
  
"He's a lot like you actually!"  
  
"Yeah?" And the group went on to talk about how they had come to meet Jesse and so on. The more he heard, the more Jack realised that his coming back must have affected Jesse badly, and he knew he'd have felt the same. He made a mental note to get to know him, for if Mark, Steve and Amanda all liked him then he must be worth knowing.  
  
* * * *  
  
Agent Kealy Banks was beside herself with worry. Jesse was in danger; she knew that for certain! And because of her! If I'd only told him about Seville then he could have been on guard, or Steve could've helped him. Oh god I've made such a mess of this, she thought, he could get killed. I have to put this right. She had to get back to LA; there was no doubt about that, for her anyway, because others seemed to have doubts  
  
"Agent Renfield, sir?" Kealy had to talk to her boss; there was no use, in her opinion, just sitting there in France letting Seville attack Jesse.  
  
"Yes, Agent Banks?"  
  
"Sir it's about-."  
  
"Jesse I know. Look I know what you're about to ask and the answer is no."  
  
"But sir--."  
  
"No buts! I can't have you going back to LA, you know Seville will kill you without the slightest hesitation. No, you're staying here in France, let the other agents deal with this! I know you're concerned about your boyfriend but it wouldn't be ethical for you to be on this case, you're too emotionally involved"  
  
"I guess you're right sir" Kealy agreed reluctantly. Of course she had no intention of staying in France. She was just going to have to find a way of getting back into LA unnoticed.  
  
Even just the thought of going back to LA excited her. It had been months since she had seen Jesse, and although the circumstances were less than desirable; she was looking forward to seeing him again.  
  
* * * *  
  
It was dark in LA that night, as a very unusual ensemble of people laughed and joked like they hadn't a care in the world. Even Angel, who rarely smiled, was very happy to be surrounded by his friends, celebrating their latest defeat over Wolfram and Hart. It so happened that they had stopped a very harmful Callus demon, brought forth by the team of Lawyers. Angel Investigations, they called themselves. Firstly, there was Angel, a vampire with a soul, hence the name of the company! Then there was Doyle, pretty much the same idea with him, a half-human half-demon. Then came Cordelia Chase, a pretty, vivacious woman of 21 who had known Angel since high school, and who was also susceptible to visions alerting her to who was in danger from something of demon origin. Wesley Windham- Pryce, was a British ex-watcher and ex-demon hunter, and then there was Gunn, who had become part of the group since he started helping Angel on odd cases. The five of them had been through many adventures together, most the result of Wolfram and Hart, a team of lawyers who were out to destroy Angel and had rather unorthodox methods of conducting their cases. They really did work together well as a team, Cordelia was thinking as she looked around at all her friends. It was great to get a moment with all of them there, just enjoying themselves; it seemed there was always something going wrong whenever they had a moment like this. She didn't know just how right she was. "Oh god!" she groaned when the familiar feeling that a vision usually brought to her was starting up. The flash hit her like a bullet to the brain, and it was this that sent her flying off her chair and onto the floor. The others jumped up immediately and rushed to her aid. Doyle, who had a soft spot for Cordelia, reached her side first and supported her as she tried to get up. "What do you see?" Doyle asked anxiously.  
  
"Okay.." said Cordelia unsteadily, trying to sort out her head, "man in a white lab coat-thing, a doctor! Yeah, I can see some sort of storeroom, oh- oh! Eww! Big ugly demon, oh my god it has a sword. AHHH!" she yelled as the vision hit her again. "It's just- stabbed him! We've got to hurry!"  
  
"Can you see where this is, like what hospital or." Angel prodded her while the others gathered together some weapons.  
  
"Wait a sec.. oww" she groaned as the nauseous feeling hit her again, "Uh, Community.General, Community General Hospital! That's it!"  
  
Angel watched impatiently as everyone else helped Cordelia up from the floor, and then hurried everyone out to his black convertible. Everyone else in the car apart from Cordelia was anticipating a big exciting battle, but she wasn't so sure. She really hadn't liked the look of that demon, and the feelings that that vision had given her had been particularly violent. She was worried for the doctor, she could only hope that they would make it in time.  
  
* * * *  
  
Dr. Jesse Travis rubbed furiously at his blurry, tired eyes. This was happening to him a lot lately, he really needed to get more sleep. Since everything that had happened in Italy, he had thrown himself back into his work with such vigour that every time he went to sleep he was practically unconscious. The fact that Kealy was away didn't help either. He'd started to pine for her in a way that he had only ever done so after Susan had left, and he had loved Susan a lot. He knew that he was in love with Kealy and that the real reason for his depression was that she was away.  
  
He was jolted out of his thoughts and back to reality as a nurse bumped into him from behind. "Oh, Dr. Travis, I'm so so sorry, I-I wasn't looking where I was going, I-It's just that it's the late shift and-."  
  
"Hey Don't worry about it" Jesse smiled softly. Jennifer Langley was a new nurse, and a nervous one at that. She smiled back shyly at him, she was young and had what appeared to be a crush on him. He had often noticed her sneaking glances at him; he was never one to boast about things like that though. He just thought it was sweet.  
  
"Oh, Dr. Travis! Um, this is so embarrassing! When I was in the storeroom, I left Mrs. Wills' prescription there. I'd go get it now, but I've gotta see the nursing administrator in 5 minutes, could you.?"  
  
"Sure, Jenn. Hey, I hope your meeting goes okay!"  
  
"Thank you Dr. Travis! I really appreciate it!"  
  
Jesse chuckled quietly to himself as he made his way towards the storeroom. Her enthusiasm really was endearing. The long hospital corridor was totally silent, and empty of life. Though this was hardly unusual at 2.00 am! The bottle green doorframe belonging to the storeroom was ajar when he reached it. He didn't particularly place much importance on this though, as doctors and nurses were in and out all day.  
  
As he stepped inside, he instinctively reached for the light switch, but it wasn't working. Damn it! he thought, now I'm gonna have to find this thing in the dark. Working his way along the shelves, he scanned the area for what could be Mrs. Wills' prescription, when he felt the hairs on the back of his neck rise, sending a shiver down his spine. He turned abruptly, expecting to see someone in the doorway, or inside the room at least. But there was nothing there.  
  
Thinking he had imagined it, Jesse turned back and continued his search. This time it was a shuffling noise which interrupted him. It couldn't be rats, the ICU was several floors above the ground, and was checked constantly. He was starting to feel more than a little nervous now, when he spotted the item he had been looking for. He snatched it up and ran for the door but before he could reach it, it slammed shut. He grabbed the handle and tried to open it, but to no avail.  
  
The shuffling noise was there again, as he turned around slowly; he began to feel really afraid of what he was about to see. His eyes widened in horror as he found out just how right he had been to be afraid. He had never seen anything like it, and he felt his heart begin to thump harder and faster, and his breathing came in sharp panicked gasps, as the thing began to advance towards him. He was so scared that he could not even yell as it raised it's sword and brought it sweeping down towards his head. He was completely frozen.  
  
To Be Continued. 


	3. Shock

Thanks for the reviews everyone! Keep on posting them please!  
  
Hope You Enjoy!  
  
Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters in this, except Dr. Spence and Kealy Banks, who I made up. Anyway they belong to Viacom, Fox etc. I make no profit from this story, I am just borrowing these characters for fun!  
  
Chapter 3: shock  
  
Angel's black convertible screeched into the parking lot at Community General Hospital. Gunn and Doyle had already leapt over the side of the car, while Wesley and Cordelia preferred to use the door. They rushed to the entrance, Angel's long black leather coat flapping behind him. They looked like an odd assortment of people, to the few outpatients sitting in the reception area as the five of them pushed their way in. But then, you got all sorts there in the early hours of the morning. Doyle charged up to the reception. "We need to see.ah, what did you say his name was Cordelia?"  
  
"I didn't," she said as she marched up and brushed Doyle out of the way, "Excuse me, but we need to speak with Dr. uh. Travis! That's it!" The receptionist looked at her strangely.  
  
"Oh!" said Cordelia, realising that she had to give a reason, "He needs our help, just tell us where we can find him!"  
  
"Well.okay" said the receptionist hesitantly. In a situation like this, she would normally have informed Dr. Sloan, but he was on vacation. "He's in the ICU"  
  
"Thank you!" Cordelia smiled unconvincingly, as the others tried, and failed to walk casually to the elevator, time was of the essence. Once inside the elevator, time seemed to standstill. Even Wesley, who often liked to appear calm and collected, was urging it to hurry up. They were all very glad when the ping of the doors opening finally sounded. Practically falling through the doors in a big pile, they all managed to escape the elevator.  
  
Cordelia wondered why everyone was so quiet, until she realised that they were all looking at her expectantly, waiting for her to direct them. "Okay, it was a green door, It looked like a storeroom" As she said this, a loud crash sounded from somewhere down a corridor to the right. No one said anything as they all sprinted for it.  
  
* * * *  
  
Jesse recovered the feeling in his limbs just in time for him to dive out of the way of the sword. He felt his shoulder connect painfully with a shelf and then toppled over along with it. Whilst on the floor, Jesse kick- started his brain and grabbed a metal tray that was beside him. He flung it at the monster's head. It swivelled it's glowing red eyes and used a heavy arm to sweep it away like it was no more than a fly.  
  
Jesse was really scared now. The beast had a large, angular face, with green tinges. It's gigantic, razor-sharp teeth protruded from it's lop-sided mouth like icicles from a frozen ceiling. It wasn't just this that gave Jesse the chill inside, it was the creature's look of absolute indifference.  
  
This thing could just kill him without batting an eyelid, and he was almost certain that it would. The monster-whatever-it-was, stalked towards him menacingly, it's eyes fixed upon him, with it's sword arm quivering, itching to bring it down onto Jesse's head.  
  
It didn't waist much time. Before long it was raising the sword again, and this time Jesse barely had time to scrabble away. Everything was happening in slow motion, but yet so quickly. For Jesse did not have the chance to even yell before the creature's sword had sliced through his midriff, sending a wave of agony through his body and a set of shooting stars into his brain. He collapsed, very much believing that this was the end.  
  
He wondered if he was delirious, or just dreaming. As he slumped backwards, he could have sworn that he'd heard the door opening. A big, black ball rammed into the monster standing over him, knocking it to the ground. Three other blurs also dived on top. "Oh my god," He heard a woman shout. Jesse looked up to see a girl of about early twenties staring at his bloodied form.  
  
"Are you okay," she gasped rushing to kneel next to him. All Jesse could manage to reply was a groan.  
  
Out of the corner of his eye, Jesse saw a tall, pale looking man pick up the creature's sword, and a coloured man with a really weird axe-thing. They both advanced on the animal and the tall man rammed the creature's own sword into it's stomach. It let out a dreadful blood-curdling screech and then dissolved into a pile of green goo on the storeroom floor.  
  
Then Jesse felt really sick, and as darkness fogged at the corners of his vision, he looked up and the last thing he saw before blacking out, was the startling brown eyes of the woman leaning over him.  
  
* * * *  
  
Kealy Banks sat on a plane bound for LA. She stared pointlessly at the rain strewn black windows, not that she could see much, but it hid her worried, tear-filled eyes. What if she was too late? What if something happened to him? She'd never forgive herself.  
  
It had been hard, getting out of France without Renfield finding out. But her contact at the Paris airport had managed to put her on this flight. She knew Renfield would be annoyed to say the least, but he had to understand that Jesse was more important to her than even herself. Her own safety didn't matter, only Jesse's. It was her fault, and she was going to fix it.  
  
"Excuse me madam?" the voice of an airhostess cut through Kealy's thoughts like a knife.  
  
"Sorry?" Kealy answered in a strained voice.  
  
"Your meal"  
  
"Oh of course" Kealy didn't feel much like eating, but she took the tray dutifully. This plane simply could not fly fast enough. She needed to get to Jesse.  
  
* * * *  
  
The first thing Jesse was aware of when he woke, was an agonising pain in his lower abdomen. He groaned loudly, and attempted to sit up.  
  
"I don't think that's a very good idea." a woman said, but it wasn't Amanda, or any of the nurses he knew. His eyes focused on the speaker. She was one of about five people sitting round his bed. He knew none of them. Suddenly everything came rushing back, the monster, being stabbed.  
  
".I mean, that thing did slice your appendix, that's what Dr. whats-his- name told us."  
  
"Wha-," Jesse stuttered, his lips struggling to translate his thoughts into words.  
  
"Hey, I'm Cordelia Chase," the woman said, trying to break the thick fog between them. She pointed at the tall, pale looking guy. When seated he was still as imposing as he was when he was on his feet. "This, is Angel. He's a vampire with a soul. And this is Doyle, he's mostly human, with a bit of Demon."  
  
"Hi" Doyle greeted him, while Angel remained silent, looking almost shy.  
  
Cordelia moved on, "This is Charles Gunn, but we just call him Gunn, and this is Wesley Windham-Pryce," Both men said hello. The group never took their eyes from Jesse all the way through Cordelia's long speech. Jesse struggled to take this in; he had the feeling that he had been sedated, and it was really slowing down his thought process.  
  
"Vamp-what? Demon? What the hell is going on" Jesse began to get very agitated.  
  
"He doesn't know" Cordelia whispered to her friends, "What do we tell him?"  
  
"How about everything" Jesse piped up.  
  
"You got all night? Oh, Wait, I guess you do!"  
  
* * * *  
  
The more Jesse listened, the worse he felt. To hear about all of this stuff was just too much, he knew that he was going into delayed shock, and there was nothing he could do about it. His eyes began to roll, and he couldn't focus on anything. He felt his heart rate go up and up, so much so that he struggled to breathe. His whole body stiffened and he felt himself lose control as he went into some kind of seizure.  
  
* * * *  
  
Dr. James Spence was doing his rounds in the ICU; he'd had to fill in for Dr. Travis after he'd been attacked. The people who'd found him had been less than helpful; they couldn't even tell him what happened. He was on his way there right now, they really shouldn't keep Jesse up for too long, he needed to rest, he thought.  
  
Suddenly the dreaded call came over the hospital tannoy system. "CODE BLUE, ROOM 145. CODE BLUE, ROOM 145."  
  
James sprinted forward as he realised that Jesse was going into Cardiac arrest. He arrived just as the nurses had brought the defibrillators into the room. As he strode forward towards Jesse, he noticed that these same five people were there.  
  
Not having any time to chastise them for agitating Jesse, he barked at one of the nurses to "get them outta here"  
  
Hoping he was not too late as the flatline drone sounded in his ears, he picked up the defibrillators. "250 Joules, Clear?"  
  
"Clear"  
  
To Be Continued. 


	4. Questions Unanswered

Fourth part now up!! Thanks for the reviews, you guys are great! Hope you enjoy. . .  
  
All Disclaimers Apply  
  
Chapter 4: Questions unanswered  
  
The heart monitor beside Jesse's bed was now beeping steadily and healthily. A far cry from earlier. Thank god they'd saved him, Dr. Spence thought as he observed Jesse from an upright position in the doorway to his room. The relief was clear on his tired, haggard face. It had been a close call for the young doctor; he'd almost lost the battle. But they'd saved him, and now he was sleeping peacefully, albeit a drugged sleep, but he could get some rest at least.  
  
A soft shuffling from behind reminded him of the presence of the group of five who had been the cause, in his opinion, of Dr. Travis's heart failure. He turned abruptly to find himself face to face with Cordelia. Her innocent face peering up at him, almost nervously. "Uh. . . Dr. Spence, Is it okay to see him?"  
  
"I think not!" Dr. Spence exclaimed vehemently. The cheek of them! To want to see Jesse after all the trouble they had caused!  
  
"Well, Why?" Cordelia did not appear to understand just how much distress she and her friends had been responsible for, and he simply could not allow them to do any more damage.  
  
"I think he's had enough agitation for one night! Oh don't think I don't know that it was because of something you guys did that he went into cardiac arrest."  
  
At Cordelia's, and everyone else's outraged glares, he continued, "I specifically told you not to trouble him, he's been through a lot. Now I suggest that you come back at another time" With that he ushered them towards the door. The five of them were too shocked at the man's outburst that they simply left dumbly, and before they knew it, they were outside wondering how the hell they had allowed that to happen.  
  
Dr. Spence watched this odd assortment of people from the doors to the hospital, the tall, brooding man. The woman who seemed totally unlike any of her friends. The coloured man. The Englishman who attempted to be sophisticated, and the friendly Irishman. What did they all have to do with Jesse? Was he supposed to believe that they had simply stumbled upon him, with a stab wound in his chest? No, he thought, I have to phone Dr. Sloan. What I should have done in the first place.  
  
* * * *  
  
Mark slept soundly and peacefully. Words could not describe how happy he was to have Jack back in LA, even if it was for a holiday. He almost wished things could go back to the way they were, but Jesse was there now, and he looked upon him the same way as he did Jack. If only they could exist together, but he knew that there would always be rivalry between Jesse and Jack. It would just never work.  
  
The persistent ring of the telephone dragged him out of the realms of sleep. Shooting up into a sitting position and rubbing his tired eyes, he reached for the phone. What time is it? He thought sleepily, staring at his alarm clock, he noticed that it was 4.30 in the morning. Who would call at this hour? Then he checked himself, if he had learned anything it would be that he could always expect to be called about something, either from the hospital or from the police.  
  
"Mark Sloan speaking"  
  
"Hey Dr. Sloan, I'm sorry to bother you at this hour." It was Dr. Spence. One of the ER doctors, sounding quite urgent.  
  
"Oh don't worry about it!" Mark shrugged off the man's apology; he was far more interested in what the point of the phone call was to worry about what time it was.  
  
"Look Mark I'll cut to the chase, it's about Jesse." Jesse? Mark's interest was sparked immediately. What was wrong with his friend?  
  
"What about Jesse?" Steve heard his father say as he stood silently in the doorway. Years as a police Lieutenant had made his hearing very sharp, and a natural curiosity had brought him to investigate this mysterious phone call. The thick blanket of concern in his father's voice was clear to Steve as he listened.  
  
"I'll be right there, is he stable? Okay. . . bye!"  
  
"What is it Dad?" Steve said rushing into the room, alarm written all over his face.  
  
"It's Jesse, he's been stabbed!"  
  
* * * *  
  
Back at their "office", the Angel Investigations crew were mulling over what to do about the doctor. They didn't know whether this was a random attack, or if it was about Jesse himself. The five of them were feeling a touch sheepish after nearly frightening the poor guy to death, they hadn't really thought that what they were telling him would have such a reaction.  
  
"I think the best place to start is by looking for information on the demon" Wesley suggested in his crisp English accent. He looked at Doyle, "Did you recognise it?"  
  
"What, just 'cos I'm part demon that means I know all about them?" Doyle ribbed, looking scandalised, but with a cheeky glint in his eyes. It was true, he knew about some demons, but not about this particular one.  
  
"Well do you?" Wesley questioned, a little unsure whether Doyle was joking or not.  
  
"No! I've never seen that thing in my entire life!"  
  
"It looked familiar to me" Angel interjected quietly, "I've seen it somewhere, but I can't place it! Cordy can you look it up?"  
  
"Sure, but it could take a while. I mean, how many demons are there who are big, green and gross?" she replied sarcastically. But then she saw the endearing look that Angel gave her, and then she laughed. "Okay, okay"  
  
Wes, Gunn, Angel and Doyle sat in a small circle just a little away from where Cordelia was tapping away gently on her laptop. Occasionally she wiped a hand over her forehead and sighed deeply. The search was proving inconclusive, as she had suspected there were hundreds of demons which matched the description.  
  
Angel stood up and went over to the fridge and pulled out a glass full of red liquid. Being a vampire with a soul, Angel never drank fresh human blood. He had to drink animal blood from the butchers, and to keep it fresh it had to go in the fridge, much to the disgust of the others. Each of them tried not to watch as he took a swig, but they failed and grimaced in distaste as a small dribble escaped his mouth and cascaded down his chin. As he brought an arm up to wipe his mouth, Cordelia suddenly yelped.  
  
All four of them were at her side instantly. "Got it!" she said triumphantly, and pushed back a little in her seat to make way for the others to crowd in.  
  
"Wow!" said Doyle nervously after he had looked at the screen, steeling a glance at Angel, the only other person he knew for sure would understand what this meant.  
  
"That's an Assassin Demon!" Angel declared, earning him several confused glances.  
  
"What's an Assassin Demon?" Gunn asked, a little afraid of what the answer might be.  
  
"It's a demon which is summoned by a person with the sole purpose of killing another human, they're highly dangerous" Doyle broke in.  
  
"Jesse was lucky that we got there when we did, there's no way he could have stopped it himself" Angel said.  
  
"But what does this mean?" Cordelia urged, "Is he still in danger? Should we go to him?"  
  
"No!" replied Angel, "We won't go to him, not now anyway, later. Besides I doubt they'd let us see him now anyway. Yes he could still be in danger, but the only way for us to help now is to try and stop the person who's doing this!"  
  
"And how do we do that?" Wesley this time.  
  
"Later on we'll speak to him, find out if he has any idea who did this. And if he doesn't, I'll just have to find some other way"  
  
* * * *  
  
Kealy Banks could barely hear the click of her own heels on the tiled floor of the airport, as all that could fill her head were thoughts of Jesse. It was only when she bumped into someone in the main terminal that she realised she was actually back in LA. She apologised and looked at her surroundings. Somehow she had guided herself off the plane, through customs, through baggage collection and through to the terminal building. She remembered none of it.  
  
It took a few minutes before she could collect her thoughts together. Staring around her, all she could see were people, bags, and little television screens showing flight information. She felt stupid, how many times had she been in this airport? And yet she could not locate the exit. Sighing inwardly, she searched around until finally, a bright neon sign screaming EXIT materialised before her eyes. She felt so ridiculous she almost smiled. It was amazing how a guy, even from far away, could have such an effect on her brain. Hoisting her bag up, she began her confident tread towards the exit.  
  
She wasn't surprised to see Agent Vaughn fall into stride with her. "Agent Renfield's not too happy with you at the moment"  
  
"Stuff Renfield! I don't care what he thinks! This is too important to me, surely you understand that?"  
  
"I do, but this isn't about me! It's about you, and I don't want to see you get into trouble, neither does Renfield"  
  
"Look, I can handle myself. You should know that by now, and if Jesse's in danger then I want to be there for him"  
  
"Kealy there's something you should know. . ." Vaughn stopped midstride and caught Kealy's arm. He looked serious, his soft features throwing a feeling of unease into Kealy's stomach.  
  
"What? What is it? Is he hurt? He's hurt isn't he?" She panicked.  
  
Vaughn paused for a minute, not quite knowing how to break the news to her.  
  
"He was stabbed"  
  
"Oh my god!" Kealy gasped, bringing a hand up to her face, "I knew this would happen, it's all my fault! Is he. . .?" She couldn't bear to finish.  
  
"No, he's not dead" he answered, guessing her question, but seeing her shoulders sink slowly with relief he added, "But there are some complications, don't worry they're not to do with his condition, more with his situation."  
  
"What do you mean?" Kealy was a mixture of turmoil and relief, she wasn't sure she wanted to hear anymore.  
  
"You need to come back to HQ, Renfield's not happy about you disobeying him, but he's agreed to let you help. For now."  
  
Vaughn's tone was difficult to read, but it was something in the way he spoke which made her exhaustion from the transatlantic flight melt away in an instant.  
  
* * * *  
  
Jesse awoke early that morning to find Mark, Steve, Amanda and, to his disgust, Jack. He could see the concern in their eyes as he smiled softly in greeting. He shook his head slightly to remove the cobwebs, and noticed that everyone was watching him closely, no one saying anything. Jesse found himself drawn to Jack's face, which showed a certain amount of interest and a sort of detached concern. He realised that his expression as he looked at Jack was less than pleasant, so he looked away.  
  
The look did not go unnoticed between Mark, Steve and Amanda, but fortunately Jack seemed unaware of the tension.  
  
"How are you feeling?" Mark said in his fatherly tone.  
  
"Sore" Jesse replied raspily, "You never quite get used to that feeling of flatlining and then resurfacing again." He'd meant it as a joke, but no one was laughing. He could feel Jack's burning gaze upon him, and he was surprised at how uncomfortable this made him feel.  
  
"Jesse what happened?" Steve could contain himself no longer, the policeman inside of him breaking out in full flood. "Who did this?"  
  
Everyone's eyes upon him made him nervous. What should he tell them? Would they believe him if he told the truth? It was unlikely, he wasn't even sure he believed it himself. He decided to go for the safe option.  
  
"I-I don't remember a whole lot about it, uh, I musta blacked out or something." He said in the most convincing way he could muster.  
  
"What about those people Dr. Spence said were with you?"  
  
"I, uh, don't know. I came to, and there they were."  
  
"Yeah but they must have said something to you?"  
  
"Uh, no they didn't. I'm sure I would remember" Lying felt so childish, he hated it, but he just couldn't tell them the truth. He could see the scenario now, Mark would look at him with pity in his eyes, pity that he felt the need to make up some story. Steve would blow his top, shout at Jesse for being so stupid, Amanda would give him a stern look. And Jack? Jack would probably stare at him as though he was the most ludicrous person in the world.  
  
"Well, okay" Mark sighed, "We'll leave you to rest a while"  
  
"But Dad-," Steve protested. He wanted to probe Jesse further, but so did Mark, only he knew that bombarding Jesse with questions was just not going to work.  
  
"We'll leave him to rest, he's been through a lot" Mark said quietly, but firmly. As he glanced at Jesse he could see the younger man visibly relaxing. This put a slight frown on his face. He also knew that Jesse did not like Jack's presence, could this be another reason for him not to talk? He could see clearly that Jesse was jealous of Jack's relationship with them all, he just hoped that this wouldn't cloud Jesse's judgement.  
  
Once outside Jesse's hospital room, Mark was the first one to speak.  
  
"He's lying"  
  
"I could tell" Steve agreed, "But who is he protecting? Those people who found him?"  
  
"I don't know son, he could be in danger, that may be why he's keeping quiet."  
  
"Hey. . ." Jack interrupted slightly, "You guys are all good friends with him aren't you?"  
  
"Yeah, Why?" Steve answered.  
  
"It's just - if it had been me in there, I would have told you everything, I'm just wondering why he didn't."  
  
"If Jesse thinks that he can handle something himself then he doesn't always tell us things. I just wish he'd let us in, it's just that he likes to be independent, not show his feelings."  
  
"Just like a certain person we all know" Amanda teased, earning a disgruntled look from Steve.  
  
Mark brought everything back to seriousness, "Jesse's keeping something from us, and I intend to find out what it is"  
  
To Be Continued. . .  
  
All reviews welcome! 


	5. Evidence

Thanks to everyone for your reviews. You guys make it all worth while!!  
  
All Disclaimers Apply (If you want a more detailed disclaimer then check Chapter One)  
Chapter 5: Evidence  
  
Agent Kealy Banks stood with her arms crossed and a very sceptical look on her face. Standing alone in a small office inside the Central Intelligence Agency, she waited for Agent Vaughn to return. The office that she was in, was one that she had never been inside before, it felt strange and secretive, but then again she was inside the CIA.  
  
It had taken a lot persuading on Vaughn's part, to get her to come here first rather than go to Jesse, but since there wasn't actually anything she could do for him until she found out what this was all about, she'd gone along with it.  
  
Vaughn startled her train of thought as he re-entered the room. He was clutching a file and a case.  
  
"Where were you?" Kealy enquired suspiciously.  
  
"I had to gain clearance before I could give you this information"  
  
When Kealy simply stared at him, he continued, "What I'm about to tell you, you cannot repeat to anybody, only Jesse, because he's a witness. Agents of our status are not supposed to know about this, in fact very few people within the CIA are privileged with this information-,"  
  
"Yeah I get the idea" Kealy interrupted impatiently. Vaughn did have a tendency to go on a lot.  
  
"Okay, here's the deal. Jesse's attack was not a normal attack, sure it was co-ordinated by Seville, but no man, or woman actually carried out the attack"  
  
"What? What are you talking about?"  
  
"I'm not explaining myself very well. There is a secret organisation inside of the CIA, which deals in paranormal activity"  
  
"What, you mean like the X-Files?" Kealy bristled sarcastically.  
  
"Exactly like the X-Files, except it's called Delta 5"  
  
Kealy found this difficult to comprehend, "So you're saying that Jesse was stabbed by little Green Men?"  
  
"No, look Kealy this is serious. There are things that exist called demons, they are-,"  
  
"I know what demons are. Are you saying that they really exist?" Kealy couldn't keep the incredulity out of her voice.  
  
"Yes, and Jesse was attacked by one. We have almost conclusive proof" Vaughn paused, pretending to be unaware of her cynical gaze, and stooped to pick up a leather case. He laid it upon a desk and presented it's contents. A Large, sharp sword wrapped in plastic was carefully installed inside it. The words "ad annihilare" were inscribed on the hilt.  
  
"That's what you call "conclusive proof", one sword?" Kealy almost laughed at him.  
  
Vaughn looked put out. "It came from the store room in the ICU at Community General, Jesse's blood was on it. We did find some other, quite unusual cells on the hilt . . . Kealy we've examined the cell samples. They're not from any species that are scientifically known to exist on this planet"  
  
There was a long silence.  
  
Kealy looked stunned. This changed everything, "That's uh, pretty conclusive! Wow, I uh, don't know what to say"  
  
Vaughn sensed her embarrassment, so he didn't press the matter. "We're trying to establish what kind of a creature this is, so we've been over the sword. The words inscribed here . . ." He pointed the inscription, "Are in Latin, and they mean-,"  
  
"To Destroy" Kealy interrupted.  
  
"Yeah that's exactly what they mean, you did Latin?"  
  
"Don't sound so surprised" Kealy laughed, and then grew serious, "Did you find anything else?"  
  
"No, and we have no idea where it came from, or where it went, or even if it's still alive."  
  
Kealy didn't even want to consider that, so she pushed her mind in another direction. "Vaughn, how did Delta 5 get their hands on this sword? And how did Jesse manage to survive?"  
  
"Delta 5 have been following a group of people who they believe to be some kind of Demon hunting group. They followed them to Community General the night of Jesse's attack, but were not in time to see the demon, but they were able to get the sword. It seems that this group of people managed to save Jesse's life, but we don't know if they killed the demon"  
  
The piercing trill of Vaughn's cell phone sliced through the atmosphere, taking them both by surprise, and they both expelled the breath that they had unconsciously been holding in.  
  
"Vaughn here" He said in a brisk, self-important tone. He listened for a few moments to the person on the other end of the line, nodded several times and then signed off.  
  
"What was that about?" Kealy hoped it wasn't any bad news about Jesse.  
  
"The Sloans are snooping around, but that shouldn't be a problem, they won't find the truth" Kealy could sense that Vaughn intended to talk about this for a long time, and she couldn't face it, not right then.  
  
"I'm going to see Jesse now, I've waited long enough to tell him about Seville"  
  
"Kealy we still have things to discuss"  
  
"I don't care!" and with that, she turned and walked briskly out of the office, leaving Vaughn standing in the middle of the room with a wry smile on his face.  
  
* * * *  
  
The Fab Four, minus Jesse but plus Jack, sat in the Doctor's lounge contemplating their next move regarding Jesse's attack. "I still think we should go back and ask him" Steve argued.  
  
"No Steve we've been over this!" Mark answered "Now, I think we ought to ask James what he saw that night, I'll do that. Steve, you, Amanda and Jack can go ask at reception to see if they know anything about Jesse's visitors"  
  
At the mention of his name, Jack was thrilled; to be investigating with his old friends was exactly what he needed. He'd had to admit that part of the reason that he'd been so keen to come back to LA was because of the allure of being involved in solving a crime.  
  
"Okay Dad, but shouldn't someone go and stay with Jesse?"  
  
"No, I think he should stew for a while, maybe he'll "remember" something"  
  
Suddenly Steve thought of something he wanted to ask his father about. "Uh, Jack, Amanda would you two like to head down to reception? I need to speak to Dad."  
  
Jack didn't need to be told twice, any chance for time alone with Amanda, who he'd been attracted to for ages, was welcome!  
  
"What is it son?" Mark's eyes showed instant concern at his son's tone of voice.  
  
"Nothing serious Dad" Steve reassured Mark as he saw the look on his face. "I just wanted to ask if you saw what I saw in there with Jesse"  
  
Instantly catching on Mark answered, "Oh you mean the look on his face when he saw Jack?"  
  
"Yeah. I think he's jealous, maybe he resents Jack and that's why he's not telling us what happened"  
  
"Jesse would never hold back on us because he didn't like someone, but you're right, he's definitely jealous"  
  
"What are we gonna do Dad?" Steve looked and felt helpless, he knew that he had to help Jesse, but there just didn't seem to be any way he could.  
  
"Well. . ." sighed Mark, "Until Jesse trusts us enough to tell us what happened, we'll just have to investigate ourselves"  
  
* * * *  
  
Jack walked territorially beside Amanda the whole way down to reception, he had always wanted more than friendship from her, but she'd made it clear that it wasn't on. He ran a hand somewhat nervously through his hair, and asked the question that had been on the tip of his tongue since he'd met Jesse Travis.  
  
"So, uh. . . You and Jesse. . .?" He had to know, not that he thought that the young doctor was Amanda's type at all, but. . .  
  
Amanda looked at him sharply, hardly believing that he could ask a question like that a time like this, "No! No, Jesse and me are just good friends. Just - Like -- Us!" She made sure to emphasise this particular point. She didn't want Jack to think that her happiness about his return had anything to do with an attraction for him.  
  
"Just, thought I'd ask" Jack glanced at her with a half-grin on his face, he'd keep trying and she knew it too, judging by the same half-grin on her own face.  
  
* * * *  
  
Kealy stood at the doorway to Jesse's hospital room. Jesse lay dosing peacefully; she hardly dared to enter in case she disturbed his slumber. She noticed with guilt, the large dressing which covered his midriff. If she told him about Seville, would he blame her? Would he forgive her? She couldn't live with this guilt any longer; she had to tell him no matter what the consequences might be. She owed it to him.  
  
Slinking carefully into the room, not wanting to give Jesse a rude awakening, she manoeuvred her petit frame into a chair which sat conveniently next to the bed. She gently put a hand to his forehead and brushed some strands of hair from his eyes. He stirred slightly at her touch but did not waken. She removed her hand and placed it instead on his right hand which fell limply by his side. She had waited weeks for this moment. Why had she ever left? Why had she ever thought that she could cope without him?  
  
Kealy brushed her lips on Jesse's cheek, and whispered softly, "Jess? Wake up"  
  
Jesse moaned slightly and then opened his eyes cautiously. Kealy was surprised that he didn't jump out of bed with shock when he saw her, but then she realised that he had obviously been sedated. "Kealy" his face registered confusion, "Shouldn't you be in France?"  
  
Kealy giggled at his frankness, and bent down to plant a kiss on his lips, which he promptly returned. "Technically yes, but since I heard about your accident. . . actually no, that's not quite true, I was on my way here before I knew about what happened"  
  
Befuddled though his brain was with drugs, he could sense some kind of underlying meaning from Kealy's tone. "What do you mean? Did you know something was going to happen?" Jesse went straight to the point.  
  
Caught off guard slightly, Kealy answered "Yes, I mean, not exactly. . .Look Jess I have something to say to you. I could probably put it off until you feel better, but I have to get this off my chest. I know that sounds selfish but. . ."  
  
"No, it's fine. I'm fine, really" he patted his stomach and smiled, then grimaced. Kealy was amused by his fake bravado, but also touched that he could play down his injuries to make her feel better.  
  
"This isn't easy to say, but I'll just say it anyway" And she went on to tell him what had been eating away at her insides for so many weeks. As she spoke, the smile on Jesse's face rapidly decreased, until the expression on his face reflected the nausea he was feeling inside.  
  
"So, you see, it's all my fault. You got attacked because I didn't warn you about Seville" She burst into tears.  
  
"Hey" Jesse said softly, drawing her into an embrace, "It wasn't your fault. You were just trying to protect me. Even if you had told me, I wouldn't have been able to stop that attack" They stayed like that for a long moment, fraught with emotion.  
  
Eventually Kealy pulled away. "There's more" she said, hating herself for spoiling the moment, but she could not turn back now.  
  
"The CIA told me about your attack" she continued "I know about the demon, and I know that you haven't told your friends"  
  
Jesse was quite taken aback by this, "How can you know? I don't even know myself if it was real"  
  
"It was real Jess" She proceeded to tell him all about Delta 5 and their findings. Things started coming back to Jesse as he heard this, things that those people had said. Angel Investigations they'd called themselves.  
  
Kealy was just glad it was all out in the open between them, that he didn't blame her for anything! Her relief was palpable.  
  
"So they were right, those people. It really did happen? I didn't dream it?" Jesse looked terribly relieved, the battle in his head finally resolved. It was real. A giant weight had lifted off his shoulders, only to be replaced by a new one.  
  
"Kealy what do I tell my friends? What if Seville comes after me again?" There was fear etched across his face. Kealy could almost read his thoughts, what if another demon came after Jesse? How would he be able to survive it? Who could protect him?  
  
Kealy stared deep into his Atlantic blue eyes, she couldn't answer him. How could she, when she didn't know the answer herself?  
* * * *  
  
The door opened in front of him to reveal a conference room. The table was illuminated with light from the large windows to the left of the room. The two figures sitting at the table rose to greet him. A man and a woman. The man was smallish, with a scar on his right hand, and the woman was quite tall with shoulder length dark hair. Both wore expressions of faked cheerfulness. How much he hated their smarmy expressions.  
  
"Mr. Seville" they both said simultaneously, and were in turn greeted with a nod.  
  
"Let's get down to business, I have no patience with time wasters. Am I to assume that the plan was a success?"  
  
The looks on their faces was answer enough. "You told me it couldn't fail! I thought sending a demon to do my dirty work was "The answer to all my problems" What went wrong?"  
  
"Just a little, uh, complication. It won't happen again" said the woman, "We have plans underway for another attack tonight, another stronger demon who won't be so easy to kill"  
  
"It had better work this time, my patience with you is wearing thin. Oh, and make sure you sort out that complication" With that he gave them a threatening glare and strode out the door.  
  
The two lawyers looked at each other nervously "Lila, what are we going to do about Angel?" The man said.  
  
Lila gave him a pitying look, she hated working with him, did she have to explain everything? "Don't worry, it'll be over before Angel has a chance to do anything about it"  
  
To Be Continued. . .  
  
What do you think? Should Jesse tell Mark, Steve, Amanda and Jack? 


	6. Returning the Favour

Hey, just apologising again for anyone who found my use of the word "coloured" when describing Gunn, offensive. I will do my best to make sure that anything of this kind does not happen again.  
  
As always, thanks for the reviews.  
  
All Disclaimers apply  
  
Chapter 6: Returning the favour  
  
"Okay, so me and Doyle are gonna go see Jesse?" Cordelia asked excitedly, she loved the thrill of a new "project" and Jesse happened to be it, plus he was also cute! She really hoped he may be able to shed some light on this assassin demon, she wondered though, who would be after a guy like Jesse? He was the type of person who should never have enemies.  
  
She liked spending time with Doyle too; he was as good a person as any to go to the hospital with. She new he had a crush on her, and there may have been a time when she reciprocated, but she'd moved on from that. As she sat, daydreaming to herself, the conversation amongst the rest of her friends continued.  
  
"Yeah, if all five of us went, we'd get noticed. They've probably got our descriptions by now" Angel replied, "And. . .you two are probably the most normal looking out of all of us" He laughed, dodging a book that had been lobbed at him by Gunn.  
  
"I resent that comment!" Gunn yelled, while Wesley sniggered in the background. Angel swung around in a rare act of humour, picked up the book and promptly flung it back towards Gunn's side of the room. Before long, it had erupted into a fully-fledged book fight, with Cordelia under the table, avoiding stray volumes.  
  
Eventually she'd had enough, crawling out from under the table, "Okay people! Enough already! HEY!!" she shouted. The volley of books ended in a flash, with all four men staring at her. The sound of many books hitting the floor, broke the silence.  
  
"Sorry, we just got a little carried away!" Joked Doyle, stooping to pick up some ruffled books at his feet. He looked a little sheepish at the murderous expression on Cordelia's face.  
  
"I'll say!" Cordelia exclaimed, but with a dawning smile on her face. "But anyway, me and Doyle are gonna leave you guys to clean up this mess! We're going to the hospital, have a nice afternoon!" She waltzed over to Doyle, grabbed his arm, and breezed out the door, still laughing at the look of annoyance on Angel, Wes and Gunn's faces. They were still figuring out how they had been left to clean up.  
  
* * * *  
  
Jesse wasn't surprised to see Cordelia and Doyle again; he was sitting upright in his hospital bed, reading a surfing magazine that Kealy had bought for him, when they entered his room. Seeing them at the door, he had quickly thrust the magazine to one side and looked up at them. They both seemed to be uncomfortable in his presence, no doubt remembering exactly why he had gone into Cardiac arrest last night. The joker instinct inside of him meant that he could not let this opportunity pass him by.  
  
"Oh, it's you! I have a mind to call security, after last night!" Jesse said in the sternest voice he could muster, but fell apart at the expression on their faces. "Joke guys!" They visibly relaxed, and Cordelia hurried up to his bedside, Doyle close behind, not sure what to make of the situation, or how he should act.  
  
"How are you?" Cordelia cooed, laying a hand on Jesse's shoulder. He looked so fragile, but his boyish charm still shone through. When Jesse affirmed that he was okay, she continued, "We are soooo sorry about, you know, almost killing you!"  
  
"Yeah" agreed Doyle, "We're so used to seeing demons, we just didn't realise what a shock it could be to normal people" Doyle noticed Cordelia's hand resting on the young doctor's shoulder, and it made his blood boil, but he managed to suppress it and act normal.  
  
"It's fine, really" Jesse reassured them, "I should be thanking you for telling me the truth"  
  
This brought a huge smile to Cordelia's face, as if a huge weight had dropped from her shoulders. Jesse wondered about her, What must her life be like? I had one run in with a demon, and it scared me witless, how can she go through life facing these things every day? Could it be that behind that ditsy façade, that there was something special? The Irishman obviously thought so, Jesse could tell from the way he was looking at her. It dawned on him that her hand was still on his shoulder, he removed it gently and asked "Just here for a visit or. . ."  
  
"Oh! Sorry, I forgot why we came! Yeah, um, we found out something about the demon that attacked you" Cordelia was embarrassed at being caught out, but she managed to cover it up.  
  
"It was called a mortificare demon" Doyle piped up, glad that Jesse had removed Cordy's hand. "It comes from a group of demons called assassins, raised by one human to kill another. It means that you have an enemy"  
  
"I certainly do" Jesse muttered to himself, then said "I know who it was"  
  
"Great, so just tell us who it was and then we can go stop him" Cordelia said excitedly.  
  
"Hold on a sec" Jesse stopped her, "I have the CIA dealing with this, my girlfriend works for them"  
  
"Girlfriend?" Cordelia said disappointedly. It figured, a gorgeous guy like Jesse had to have a girlfriend.  
  
Doyle tried not to notice Cordy's evident displeasure, but couldn't help being happy at the revelation that the doctor had a girlfriend. "Jesse, the CIA can't help you with something like this, just let us investigate and see what happens. We have experience in these matters"  
  
Jesse was torn, should he let them know about Seville? How exactly would they be able to stop him? The CIA had as good as told him not to say anything, but what harm could it do? And they probably did know more about it than the CIA.  
  
"Okay, I'll let you investigate, for now" So he told them everything, about his kidnapping, about Seville. He left out Delta 5 however, that had been the one thing Kealy had been adamant about. Cordelia and Doyle were horrified to hear about SW-13 and the explosion; it seemed that even though they had experienced many things in their lifetime, they had never come across anything like this. Cordelia looked at him in amazement, and even Doyle seemed to have a new respect for him.  
  
It was a long time until he was finished, and he found his throat was very dry. He coughed a little, which made Cordelia jump. "Oh, god! We've been here for ages! We should let you get some rest" She leapt up from the chair she had been sitting in and started to rummage around in her bag. Eventually she pulled out a small piece of cardboard. "Here" she handed it to Jesse. On it was written  
  
Angel Investigations  
  
We help the helpless  
  
This was followed by a phone number.  
  
"It's kind of like our calling card, just ring us if you have any questions or problems, or if you get attacked again, which could be likely to happen. So just be on your guard" Cordy paused for a second while Jesse read the card.  
  
"Thanks, uh, if you find anything then. . .you know where to find me" They said their goodbyes, and then left, feeling as if some headway had been reached.  
  
Jesse felt exhausted after all that, he picked up the discarded surfing magazine, but decided he did not feel like reading it. Instead, he fell asleep, causing dreams of angels and demons to fly through his mind.  
  
* * * *  
  
Steve Sloan walked down the main corridor of the ICU in Community General hospital. His mind was preoccupied with thoughts about Jesse, and the information he had just learned from the receptionist. He didn't realise it, but his feet were unconsciously steering him towards Jesse's room. He walked past two people standing deep in conversation, a young woman and a man who spoke with a soft Irish tongue. He thought nothing of them as they flitted past.  
  
It finally dawned on him where he was when he found himself outside Jesse's room. He fought the urge to enter, knowing that he could never just sit by his friend's bedside without interrogating him. Still though, he wanted to feel that best friend connection again, the one that he had felt shatter between them when he grasped the fact that Jess didn't trust him enough to tell him what happened.  
  
He didn't know how long he stayed like that, but when Jesse lazily turned over in bed, dreaming of god knew what, the spell broke and he remembered that he was to meet his father in the doctor's lounge. He sighed, and walked away, not looking back at Jesse's sleeping form.  
  
* * * *  
  
"Hey Steve, I thought you said you were just going to the bathroom" Jack Stewart asked his friend with a look of concern. "Where'd you go?" This was when Steve had eventually entered the doctor's lounge. Mark and Amanda turned to look at him also.  
  
"Oh, I uh, I went to see Jesse, and before you say anything, No I did not question him. I didn't even go inside, I just kinda stood there for a while"  
  
Mark knew how hard it was for Steve to admit that. They were all upset about Jesse, but perhaps he hadn't quite understood just how much it had affected Steve. He could see his son's look of frustration at the futility of the situation. He nodded at his son, giving him the message that he did not need to talk about it if he didn't want to. This message was obviously received, as Steve rearranged his facial features to an expression of bland interest.  
  
"So Dad, what did you find out?" Steve asked, trying to keep his mind on the task at hand. Amanda handed him a coffee, which he stared at in an attempt to deflect attention from his face.  
  
"Well, James told me about the group of people that found Jesse. . ." Mark relayed the information that Dr. Spence had given him, he described the group, and James's suspicions about them. Then he told everyone about how these people had caused Jesse to go into Cardiac Arrest. As soon as he said this, Steve flew into a rage.  
  
"So that's why he won't tell us! He's too afraid! I'll find those people if it's the last thing I do, they almost killed him!" Steve threw down his untouched cup of coffee, leaving a dark stain seeping underneath one of the couches. Amanda laid a hand on his arm.  
  
"Steve, calm down. We can't help Jesse by flying off the handle! We will find those people, don't worry" she said soothingly, caressing his arm gently.  
  
Jack looked upon this scene with a little resentment. Of course, he'd known that once he'd left, others would come to take his place; but he'd never thought that it would be someone that they so obviously cared about. He felt almost as if this Jesse Travis had replaced him, he felt disconnected from his friends. He hated to admit it, but he was jealous!  
  
"I know, I know" Steve was saying, a little way off, "I just can't help it" He looked pretty forlorn, so Amanda decided to deflect the subject slightly.  
  
"Mark, I just remembered! Something that the receptionist said to us" she said excitedly, wondering how on earth she could have forgotten. Mark was all ears. "Well, Tori the receptionist described that same group that Dr. Spence did, only she said noticed something strange: she told us that the woman of the group had come up to her and asked where Jesse was, only she didn't seem quite sure about his name. And then when Tori asked the reason why this girl was asking, she answered "He needs our help" why would she say that?"  
  
"It's almost as if she knew what was going to happen!" Mark caught on quickly, "They must have been involved in the attack! We need to find them"  
  
"But how?" Jack piped up; his jealousy towards Jesse didn't hinder his interest in a case. "We have no way of finding them! They are totally anonymous, we have no way of telling who they are or where they came from!"  
  
Mark was thoughtful; his eyes were unfocused as he searched inside his brain for any way that they might continue the investigation. His hand was stroking his chin gently as the wheels inside his head turned slowly. After a few minutes, while everyone delved inside their brains to see if they themselves might find the solution, Mark spoke quietly as if talking to himself, "It seems that the answer lies with Jesse. He's our only link"  
  
* * * *  
  
Kealy Banks strode briskly down that familiar ICU corridor, hearing nothing but the tick tock of her heels on the linoleum. Being late in the evening, there was no one around, and everything around Kealy, apart from the sound of her shoes, was silent. She always felt spooky when walking down these deserted corridors, constantly glancing about as if she expected to be attacked. In her hand, she carried a bag from BBQ Bob's. Jesse had expressed a desire to have some brought to him, something along the lines of "I can't stand this hospital food any longer". Kealy chuckled at the memory.  
  
When she reached Jesse's room he was asleep - it seemed as if he never did anything else - the lights were off, and all that could be heard was the drone of the heart monitor. She was about to step in and announce the food, when she noticed a shimmering light near to the wall to the right of Jesse's hospital bed. It glowed an opalescent blue, and then an emerald green. Kealy hoped fervently that she was imagining it, or that it was a trick of the light, because it just did not give her a good feeling inside.  
  
Suddenly it began to expand, slowly at first, and then at a great speed. Then it was gone. . .but in it's place was one of the most hideous things Kealy had ever seen. It was immensely tall, with a hunchback which made it's head sink down. It was a murky brown, with ridges down it's back, long arms like thick branches, and yellow teeth with saliva dripping down the side of it's mouth. She'd never seen anything like it, but she knew instantly what it was. She'd heard enough about them. It could only be a demon.  
  
She dropped the bag of takeaway food with a thud; the beast barely turned in her direction. Instead, it moved slowly and deliberately towards Jesse, who had no idea of the mortal danger he was in. Kealy could only watch in transfixed horror, as she saw for the first time, the huge club it carried in it's right arm.  
  
Suddenly her CIA training kicked in. She shouted "JESSE LOOK OUT" just as the beast reached his bedside.  
  
Jesse flinched as he woke with a start, and without thinking, leapt out of bed and staggered to the far wall, clutching his middle and gasping out of pain and shock. His eyes widened in undeniable terror as it inched towards him, eyes fixed upon him, not noticing Kealy at all where she stood at the doorway. Jesse's drugged, sleep-ridden mind was whirring away at a speed he had never thought possible. He glanced down at his arm and noticed the line connecting him to the IV stand, in a flash he had grabbed it, pulled the line out of his arm, and was brandishing it in front of him.  
  
The room was absurdly quiet, Kealy seemed rooted to the spot and unable to say anything, Jesse was too scared to say anything, and the monster was eyeing up it's prey. Jesse knew that the IV stand wouldn't last long against the demon, but at least it was keeping it at bay. His eyes roamed around the room, searching for potential weapons. If only Angel had taught me how to fight demons, Jesse thought ruefully, then I'd know what to do. His gaze fell upon the crash cart beside his bed. Of course! How could I not have thought of this earlier!  
  
He swung the IV stand at the demon and yelled "Kealy, the Defibrillators! I'll keep this thing occupied" This was the command Kealy had needed to spring into action, she dashed behind the huge monster, which was using it's club to grapple against Jesse's measly IV stand. She reached forward and pulled the crash cart towards her and picked up the paddles. Then she realised that she didn't have a clue how to use them.  
  
"Jesse What do I do?" She screamed frantically, she could see he was weakening, his wound was obviously hurting him. Jesse hit the beast with a glancing blow across the head, and shouted out instructions in short bursts.  
  
"Now switch it on, to 300 Joules and. . ." Jesse stopped short as the demon swung it's club, which knocked the feeble stand out of Jesse's grip. Kealy didn't watch, because she knew that any second wasted could cost Jesse his life. Finally she had the paddles in her hands, she raised her arms in a wide arc.  
  
As if in slow motion, she brought down the electrically charged paddles upon the demon's hunchback and unleashed the power within. It roared in agony, and then stiffened. Jesse and Kealy watched as it shrivelled up and shrank into the hospital floor, leaving no mark. The paddles lay sparking away on the ground. Long after the demon had gone, the two people stared at the defibrillators, each knowing just how close a call that had been.  
  
Jesse stepped forward, his arms held wide apart. Kealy needed no encouragement as she stepped into his embrace. She felt as if she would never let him go, and he her. The atmosphere was so electric that it could have powered the entire building. Jesse had thought that the two of them could not have become any closer since Rome and SW-13, but he was wrong. He had never felt this before, it was as if they had become one, and would be forever. Kealy felt the same, Jesse had saved her life in that SW-13 building, and now she had returned the favour.  
  
They broke apart abruptly as a commotion could be heard down the hall. It was only a moment before Steve, Mark, Amanda and Jack appeared at the doorway. The chaotic scene that lay before them did nothing to allay their fears. "What the hell happened here?" Steve demanded.  
  
"Jesse, the nurses called us from the station. They heard screaming, and some sort of fight, they were too scared to check it out so they called us" Amanda said frantically, "What happened to the room? Wha-" She stopped, seeing the look on Jesse's face. He had glanced at Kealy, desperately. She knew instantly what he was thinking, they seemed to have connected in a way like never before.  
  
"Tell them" she said softly.  
  
To Be Continued. . . 


	7. Divided

Hey, back again! You're probably getting bored by now but this is quite an explosive chapter so please keep reading.  
  
All disclaimers apply.  
  
Chapter 7: Divided  
  
Jesse had been afraid that Kealy would say just that. He really wanted to be honest with his friends, but what if they didn't believe him? That was a big possibility, Steve, Mark and Amanda hated all things paranormal. He remembered one time that, under the influence of drugs, he had believed that aliens had kidnapped him, he knew that this was different, but would they see that?  
  
Kealy was looking deep into his eyes, encouraging him without words. Her eyes said "I'll support you". She knew just how hard this was for him, to tell his friends a story, which quite frankly, nobody would believe. She hoped he'd have faith in them.  
  
Until now, Jesse had been averting his gaze from that of his friends, but he realised that he would have to look at them. When he eventually raised his head, it was tentatively.  
  
They were looking expectantly at him, with deep curiosity, and concern. It was this concern that finally made him do it. "Look guys" he said nervously, "Uh, this is not easy to say, uh, something happened tonight. . ."  
  
"Is this to do with the stabbing?" Mark asked, already knowing the answer.  
  
"Yeah, I uh, I really want you to remain open minded when you hear what I have to say. . ." He paused, sweeping his arm across the room, "All this damage, was caused by - I was attacked by a. . .uh, thing. I'm told it's called a demon, I was attacked the other night by one with a sword-," He stopped short when he saw what was written on their faces. "Look, it's true! I'm not lying!" The collective grimace that was cast upon his companions' face, was disheartening and demoralising.  
  
A cloud of deep rage passed over Steve's face, "I can't believe you Jess" He shouted, "I can't believe that your jealousy of Jack would bring you to make up something like this! Especially under such serious circumstances!" his eyes flashed in the face of Jesse's innocent features. "That is really low! You know what? I thought you weren't telling us because you were genuinely scared, but now I realised that I underestimated you, you've been jealous of Jack all along!" Jack looked surprised at this, it was news to him, but Jesse couldn't hide the guilt that had settled in his eyes. Steve turned to look at his father, and then stormed out. He was promptly followed by an apoplectic Kealy. Mark looked at Jesse with disappointment in his eyes, and Amanda gave him a stern look. Jack stared at Jesse as though he was a stupid child making up stories to justify his actions.  
  
As Jesse stood there, devastated, wishing the ground would swallow him up, the rest of his friends left. As soon as the swish of Mark's lab coat had disappeared, Jesse moved slowly and sadly towards his bed. He should never have told them, hadn't he known they would react like this? His wound really ached and he felt the urge to cry. He stopped himself when he realised he was acting like a baby. Had he just ruined his relationship with his best friend? But why should he feel guilty? He'd told Steve the truth! Exactly what had been asked of him! Yet he still felt ashamed.  
  
A thought struck him as he surveyed the damaged room, and he reached over onto his bedside table and picked up the Angel Investigations card. He looked at it long and hard, before picking up the phone beside him that had somehow managed not to dislodge itself in the fight. There was only a second of hesitation, before he started to dial.  
  
* * * *  
  
Kealy followed Steve at a run. God he could be fast when he wanted to be! "Steve" she shouted, furious at the way he had treated Jesse. Every fibre of her being was charged with burning fury. She had to make him see sense.  
  
"What?" He said sharply, turning around. He was shocked to see the murderous expression on her face, but he managed to maintain his own look of rage. "Come to plead Jesse's case? He should be capable of fighting his own battles! You really believe that he was attacked by demons? Or are you in on the whole thing?"  
  
"In on what Steve?" Kealy couldn't believe that Steve was acting in this way, "You know Jesse would never make up something like this! Besides, if I ever had any doubts, they vanished as soon as I saw the demon! I was there when it attacked him!"  
  
Steve looked sceptical, "You saw it? Yeah right Kealy! Sure it wasn't some kind of disguise, a costume maybe? Surely a CIA specially trained operative would be able to spot that!" He mocked her.  
  
Kealy stepped back as if Steve had just slapped her, "I know you're angry, so I'll let that one slide" she said as calmly as she could, blowing up in Steve's face was not going to help Jesse, or herself for that matter. There was a heavy silence.  
  
"I'm sorry Kealy, if you really believe Jess then that's up to you, but I prefer to go with the more realistic theory of him being jealous of Jack" Steve turned as if to leave, but that was when Kealy had had enough.  
  
"Oh don't be so naïve!" She exploded "Jesse is not that shallow and you know it! I think you're just afraid to see the truth!" Steve turned again to face her, and then attempted to speak, but Kealy cut him off.  
  
"Are you telling me that you have never had any unsolved murders in your time? Ones whose cause of death you could never rationalise? Or a murderer that just didn't exist?" She paused to let this sink in, "You're the cop Steve! Aren't you supposed to look for the truth instead of making up excuses for it? Jesse's your friend, and he told you the truth whether you're ready to believe it or not, but rather than being there for him, you've pushed him away" And with that, she whirled around and stalked back to Jesse's room. Steve watched her go, his mind jumbled up. Her words had really hit home.  
  
* * * *  
  
Years earlier, before Jesse and Jack ever appeared on the scene. . .  
  
Rain pouring down in buckets - the worst storm LA had seen in years - Steve Sloan bent down over a dead body. Confusion was written all over his face. Beside him crouched Dr. Amanda Livingston (As she was at that time), horrified at what she saw. She ran a gloved hand over an unusual mark on the victim's neck: Two circular holes, with traces of blood. She'd never seen anything of the kind, nor had Steve. "Steve, I can't tell you the cause of death right now, I'm gonna have to do an autopsy"  
  
"Okay, when can you have it done?"  
  
"Hopefully in a couple of hours, I can prioritise it" She stood slowly, patted Steve on the arm, and then went of to tell the paramedics that they could remove the body.  
  
Steve hadn't been in the force for that long, in fact, this was pretty much his first case as a Detective. His father liked to help Steve with any case that he had, he was close to being invited to become a Police Consultant. Somehow though, Steve felt that there was going to be something odd about this case, and he didn't know if he wanted his father involved in this.  
  
Steve stared at the woman, her long auburn hair was fanned out on the wet ground. Her limbs were spread-eagled, and awkward looking. On her face, was a look of pure terror and desperation, her eyes were wide with shock and her mouth was open in a silent scream. Steve made a vow to her, and himself, there and then. He was going to catch the person that had done this.  
  
A few hours later, a soaking wet Steve Sloan drove his way to Community General hospital. The rain battering down on the windscreen reflected his mood: dreary and depressed. Rain always affected him in this way, but this case was also really getting him down, in a way that he had never thought possible. He'd thought that this would just be a simple open and shut case, but who knew what was going on? Was it some kind of cult?  
  
When he reached Amanda Livingston's Pathology Lab, he saw her sitting at her desk, poring over a large file. She looked completely stumped. "Hey Amanda" Steve said as enthusiastically as he could. Her head snapped upwards, she didn't look thrilled to see him.  
  
"Oh, Steve" He looked enquiringly at her as she greeted him "Yes I did the autopsy" She answered knowingly, then became serious. "Steve, you're not gonna like what I have to tell you"  
  
"And that is?"  
  
Instead of answering him immediately, Amanda stood and went over to one of the examining tables and threw back the sheets covering the body that lay upon it. "Steve, the only reason for death that I can find - and this is so brutal - is that the victim, Sophie Rae, was completely drained of blood" Steve appeared stunned by this, he'd never heard of anything so disgusting. And he'd heard and seen a lot, working for the LAPD.  
  
"How?" He asked, knowing that he really didn't want to hear the answer, but knowing that he had to.  
  
"Through these two marks here" She said, pointing to the ugly feature on the girl's neck. "It's possible that they're teeth marks, although it's unlikely. I have to confess that I know of no way that someone can drain a person's blood through the neck"  
  
Steve was inclined to agree, but he wanted to find the killer. The perpetrator of this heinous crime had to be brought to justice. "Listen, Amanda. . .I'd, uh, appreciate it if you didn't tell Dad about this, it would only upset him"  
  
"Uh, okay. Look Steve, you've got to find this guy, I mean, what he did. . ."  
  
"I know, and I will"  
  
The LAPD worked on Sophie Rae's murder for months, with Steve at the head of the investigation. Eventually though, they had to admit defeat. There just was no murderer; it was as if the person didn't exist. Nobody knew anything, or had seen anything; no clues were available. Steve was reluctant to let the matter go, but he knew deep down that there were some murders that could never be solved, and this was one of them.  
  
He never ended up telling his father about it, what was the point? Steve's sister had been causing family problems, with Mark at the centre of things. He just had too much on his mind, without Steve adding to his troubles. In the end, Steve resolved to bury it inside himself, learn from the experience and try to forget about it; and he had, until now. . .  
  
* * * *  
  
Jesse's room was very crowded that night, around his bed sat: Kealy, Vaughn, Doyle, Angel, Cordelia, Gunn and Wesley. Angel Investigations had responded immediately to Jesse's phone call and had come to him instantly. Kealy had called Vaughn, after all, Jesse had been attacked again, he needed protection, which was what they were now arguing over.  
  
"Look Jesse, the CIA can provide you with protection. We have special programs set up for people in your position. You could stay with us until we get Seville" Vaughn suggested earnestly.  
  
"Don't be ridiculous" Gunn interrupted, "What will the CIA do if a big bunch of demons pay a visit? We're experienced in handling and fighting demons, he will be much safer with us!"  
  
The room went silent as everyone looked towards Jesse expectantly. "W-Well I, uh-," he spluttered, "I think I'd be better of with Angel, no offence to the CIA or anything, it's just that, well they did help me before and well. . ."  
  
"So it's settled then?" Cordelia said excitedly, having Jess around was going to be so cool!  
  
Vaughn looked slightly apprehensive, "Well, okay. But I'm gonna have a CIA team on surveillance"  
  
This struck Angel as odd, "Agent Vaughn, why is the CIA so keen to protect Jesse?"  
  
"Apart from just wanting to protect him, we also need to catch Seville, and so far Jesse is our only link" Vaughn conveniently left out the part about Delta 5 wanting to discover more about demons, he shot Kealy a glance, warning her not to tell them. She understood perfectly, giving him an almost imperceptible nod.  
  
So it was decided, Jesse would check himself out early in the morning and he and Kealy would be picked up by Cordelia and Doyle. Hopefully this would all happen before anyone (meaning Mark, Steve, Amanda and Jack) discovered him missing. They had, after all, made their feelings perfectly clear the night before.  
  
* * * *  
  
Mark sat up late that night; Jack had gone to sleep long before, and Steve was out. He was very worried about Jesse, and disappointed that he felt he had to lie to them, especially such an obviously made-up story as demons.  
  
With a little lamp providing a small amount of light, Mark read a newspaper. The words didn't really penetrate, as he realised that, subconsciously, he was waiting up on his son. He knew that his son could take care of himself, but it was just that niggling fatherly worry. The words on the page started to blur, before he once again rubbed his exhausted eyes. Maybe he should go to bed.  
  
As this thought ran through his head, he heard his son come through the front door, and he quickly assumed a "reading the paper" pose.  
  
Steve saw right through it. "Dad, it's two in the morning. I know you're waiting up for me"  
  
Mark chuckled, but then was shocked as he discovered the scent of alcohol on Steve's breath. "Steve did you drive home after you'd been drinking?"  
  
"No Dad! I got a cab! Look Dad, there's something that's been bothering me." Steve looked haggard and debilitated, but he also needed to get this off his chest. He'd been thinking about it ever since Kealy's outburst in the hospital corridor.  
  
"What is it son?" Mark asked, concerned.  
  
Steve sat down and rested his head back. "It's about something that happened in the past, that I didn't tell you about at the time, because you had problems of your own"  
  
Mark was intrigued. "Go on. . ." he encouraged.  
  
"Well, after we went to see Jesse, and he told us about the demons, Kealy shouted at me. She asked me if I'd ever had a murder that I couldn't solve, or a strange case, or a murderer that didn't exist. It really struck a chord, it made me remember one of my first cases"  
  
Steve went on to tell his father the story of Sophie Rae's murder. Mark, who could never resist the allure of a case, was very absorbed in the story. It was very late by the time Steve had finished.  
  
"And you never found the murderer?" Mark asked.  
  
"No, and we worked on it for months, no leads, no witnesses. It was a hopeless case"  
  
"Well why didn't you tell me? I could have helped!" Mark was incredulous.  
  
"Dad, you had problems with Carol! I didn't want to add to your load"  
  
Mark realised that Steve had a point, "Okay son, but what do you think now? About the case when you look back? Do you see it differently?"  
  
"I don't know, it's just - that the way she was killed was so strange - almost like a vampire had done it, everybody knows how a vampire kills someone, and because of what Jesse said. . . I thought, two teeth marks, and blood sucked through the neck kinda sounded like a vampire. I think at the time, I just didn't want to know about any of those theories, I pushed them aside. But what if it's true Dad? What if Jesse's telling the truth?"  
  
"I guess I never thought it could be true, I mean, after Perris Pharmaceuticals, and the fake abduction. . ."  
  
"I know what you mean. Dad, I think we ought to go see him tomorrow, get the full story. I'm not saying I believe him, but let's just say I'll keep an open mind"  
  
"Okay Steve. God! Look at what time it is! Bed Now!" Mark said firmly as he yawned and stretched.  
  
"Awww Dad!" Steve said like a spoiled child, half-joking half-serious.  
  
* * * *  
  
Mark and Steve had slept poorly after their discussion, but nevertheless were eager to get to Jesse's room and talk to him. They had brought Amanda and Jack along with them, informing of them about Sophie Rae, who Amanda still remembered. She had also promised to pull out the autopsy records on Sophie Rae. Amanda wasn't really sure what to believe, but if Mark and Steve thought there was a chance that Jesse's story was true, then she was prepared to consider the possibility.  
  
It was with raised hopes and an eagerness to get on with the case, that the four of them walked down the corridor to Jesse's room. It was mid-morning, so they reckoned that he should be awake. "I'll just go in silently" Mark whispered, pushing the door open slowly and carefully.  
  
He got the shock of his life when he opened the door and discovered that Jesse had disappeared.  
  
Please read and review!! It's very rewarding for a writer to know what readers think of their work! I'd really appreciate it! 


	8. Revelations

Hey everyone, thanks for the reviews!!  
  
Hope you enjoy the next instalment, cos It'll be a while before I can next update. I go on exam leave next week for my Standard Grades, so wish me luck! Anyway, it could be a month, or more, before I get the chance to continue with this.  
  
Silvercross: I was already planning to rope in Kate Lockley! So read on to find out more!  
  
Adsh: You may not find this a plausible crossover, and you're entitled to your own opinion. But I didn't start writing this story because I thought it was plausible, I wrote for my own - and other's - enjoyment.  
  
Chapter 8: Revelations  
  
Jesse Travis gingerly planted his small frame down on one of the chairs in the old hotel foyer. His face was lit up with a fascinated smile as he surveyed his surroundings. The old hotel was certainly interesting; it looked as if it had many stories to tell. He had a large sports bag beside him on the couch, containing various changes of clothes. He patted it softly, thinking about the risk he was taking by letting these people that he hardly knew, take care of him.  
  
He felt a little out of place, Kealy had left, returning to Community General, to ease the fears of his friends. That's if they even had fears! He allowed this tiny thought to slip into his mind, then immediately felt bad.  
  
"I must say" he said loudly, trying to break the ice, and the uncomfortable silence "I wouldn't have guessed that you guys'd live in a place like this!"  
  
"What, too grand for us or something?" Gunn joked, knowing that he and Jesse were going to get along.  
  
Jesse laughed easily, feeling his misgivings melt away. He felt more relaxed now in their company, a thought that almost made him feel guilty as he remembered the friends that he had left behind. He wasn't quite sure how he felt about what had happened the night before, was he angry with them? Or angry with himself?  
  
"You want a beer?" Gunn asked, beginning to feel more at ease himself. Jesse answered that he would, and so they both cracked open a bottle and started to chat about sport.  
  
Typical males, thought Cordelia, as she sat behind the old reception desk and rested her chin on her hand. She'd really wanted Jesse to come, but if all he was going to do was talk to Gunn about Football. . .  
  
Eventually though, conversation moved back towards it's rightful subject. "So, have you guys got anywhere with Seville?" Jesse asked, draining the last of his beer and setting it down on the floor.  
  
"Well there isn't really much we can do until it gets dark" Wesley answered him. At Jesse's puzzled face, he continued, "Angel is a vampire, vampires can't go out during the day"  
  
"Ohh! I get it! So why can't you do some research?" Jesse persisted.  
  
"Give us a break!" Cordelia jumped in, "That's just about all we have been doing! There's nothing on James Seville, not anywhere!"  
  
"Besides" said Doyle, entering the room having heard the change in conversation topics, "Angel might have an idea when he wakes up, but as for us, well, I think I speak for all of us when I say that we haven't got a clue"  
  
"So what do we do now?" Jesse asked, he was back to his usual self, all sedatives having long worn off, and was desperate for some action.  
  
"We wait!" The rest of them said simultaneously.  
  
"Okay, okay!"  
  
* * * *  
  
Mark, Steve, Amanda and Jack were all sitting in their regular home-away- from-home, the doctor's lounge. All were ashen faced, they didn't know where Jesse had gone; all they knew was that he had checked himself out, but not why, or where he was now.  
  
"I'd have said, like before; with Perris Pharmaceuticals, that he would have gone back to the place where everything started, but, well it's obvious that he's not here in Community General, and really that's where it all started" Steve clutched at straws.  
  
"If you discount the whole Rome thing!" Jack tried to lighten the mood.  
  
"Let's face it" said Amanda hopelessly, "we scared him off, and now we don't have a clue where he is" She felt like a failure. Even if she didn't believe a word of Jesse's story, she felt terrible for dismissing it as if he was making it up out of jealousy. Maybe he truly believed it was true, in which case he wasn't actually lying to them, just like he wasn't before with Perris Pharmaceuticals. When she thought about how he must have felt. . .  
  
"Maybe he'll call us" Mark said, desperately trying to remain optimistic.  
  
They were interrupted by a figure at the door.  
  
"Kealy!" Steve exclaimed, jumping up and rushing towards her, "Where is he? Is he safe?" Kealy looked slightly startled, though not altogether surprised, as if she had expected an interrogation. She paused noticeably.  
  
"Well?" Steve said impatiently.  
  
"Yes he's safe, but as for where he is. . .I'm afraid I can't tell you" She answered quietly.  
  
All hell broke loose.  
  
"Why can't you tell us!" Steve shouted, his face reddening in frustration.  
  
"You can't or you won't?" Mark questioned her, his obvious concern forcing his rationality over the edge. Kealy backed away, frightened by the sheer ferocity of the father and son duo.  
  
"Come on Kealy!" Amanda tried to reason with her, "We're his friends, we care about him! You can tell us!"  
  
"No, I can't. And Mark, it's not that I won't, it really isn't! It's just that, this is a CIA operation!" Well, it was partly true! "And it could mean jeopardising his safety! You understand don't you? I came to tell you that he's okay, he's with people that will keep him safe" Kealy tried her best to dampen their fears.  
  
"Tell me," Mark asked, as calmly as he could, "Is he with that group of people?" He'd hit the nail on the head as usual, "The ones that were there on that first night?"  
  
Kealy's face betrayed her.  
  
"You mean that you let him into the care of those dangerous people?" Mark erupted.  
  
"They're not dangerous! They saved his life!" Kealy desperately tried to defend them.  
  
"So Jesse says, but he was seriously injured, can you really trust his judgement? How can you be sure that he didn't get things a little mixed up?"  
  
"I don't have to listen to this! I've done all I came to do here!" She turned to leave, "Oh, and Steve? Don't bother trying to follow me" she said, knowing that Steve had been preparing himself to do just that,"I have CIA backup and I'm not afraid to use it!" With that she swept out of the room, leaving it's occupants spellbound.  
  
* * * *  
  
Agent Vaughn had been working closely with Delta 5, doing research. He hadn't come up with much in the way of demons, but he had found something interesting - something he wasn't quite ready to share with Delta 5 yet. The first person he called was Kealy.  
  
Kealy had been so excited to hear from Vaughn that she agreed to meet him immediately. He had suggested Community General, his reason being that he could offer proof to Mark, Amanda, Steve and Jack. He had found a person whom they were bound to relate with, someone who knew a lot about demons and had had plenty of experiences with them, but most importantly, a believer.  
  
* * * *  
  
"Dr. Sloan, Dr. Bentley, Dr. Stewart and Lieutenant Sloan, this is Detective Kate Lockley, she's also from the LAPD, but from a different precinct" Vaughn introduced the pretty, blond detective to each of them in turn. Her suspicious blue eyes scanned the room, taking these new people in.  
  
This was totally weird, first being contacted by the CIA and then being dragged along to meet some doctors. . .She smiled in greeting, feeling slightly less self-conscious, looking at Mark Sloan's gentle eyes made her feel at ease.  
  
"So Detective, would you like to tell these people your story. . ." Vaughn encouraged delicately, as if Kate was about to break into pieces.  
  
Kate waited a few moments until her resolve had settled, then said, "I assume you know what this is about?"  
  
Mark, Steve, Jack and Amanda nodded. Sure, they hadn't exactly been told why Kate Lockley was here, but why else would she be?  
  
"Okay, well it all started a few years ago when I was working undercover in a bar in downtown LA. I met this really strange guy, he was tall, and brooding with this huge dark leather coat. . .there was just something about him. . ."  
  
Mark and Steve glanced at each other as they recognised this description of the man as the same one who had been there the night of Jesse's attack. Both were sure that this woman's story was going to be crucial to the case.  
  
When Kate got to the part of her story where she discovered Angel's real species, Steve stood up in complete disbelief, cutting her short. "This is the same bull that Jess was spouting! Do you really expect us to believe that? Vampires?"  
  
But Kate remained calm, How often had she come up against this in the LAPD? This was no different. "God, Agent Vaughn said you'd be hard to please" she muttered softly, and then said, "Lieutenant Sloan, I'm a police officer, you've seen my badge and deemed it to be real. What possible reason could I have for making something like this up? I'm on my way to being dropped from the force because of this! I couldn't let it go after I found out about Angel, and then after what happened to my father. . . I promise that this is the truth"  
  
She seemed so sincere that Steve sat back down slowly, "Okay, I'm not saying I believe this, but I'll hear you out" True to his word, Steve did not say a word until Kate had finished telling all she knew.  
  
Around the room was confusion. Mark, who made a point of always looking for rational answers to everything, found he could not reason this out. He could see no reason for this woman to lie, yet he just couldn't believe what she was saying. Couldn't, or wouldn't, he asked himself, was he stopping himself from believing?  
  
Amanda felt the same. This woman, Kate Lockley sounded very convincing, there was no doubt about it, but Amanda had never believed in the paranormal, she didn't know if she could now.  
  
Jack was barely taking all of this in, he'd come to LA to visit his old friends, found out that someone had basically replaced him, and got caught up in the weirdest mystery that he had ever been involved in. He didn't know Jesse, so he wasn't able to tell if he was lying or telling the truth. Kate Lockley seemed genuine, plus she was also cute! It was the firm conviction in the woman's voice which called out to him that she was telling the truth. He's always prided himself on being an excellent judge of character.  
  
Steve, being a high-ranking police officer, was good at being able to detect a liar. In his professional opinion, either this woman was serious, or she was one hell of an actress. He honestly didn't know, but like his father, he didn't know if his stubborn streak was holding him back from actually going out on a limb and believing in what the female Detective was saying.  
  
Kealy was sitting in the background, watching the four of them. She knew that they were thinking deeply about what they had just heard, but she also knew that it wasn't enough. They would need something more. And she knew exactly what that would be, but could she tell them? She could just leave out the part about Delta 5 and tell them the rest, couldn't she? How much damage could it do? She looked at Vaughn, knowing that he knew what she was thinking. Her eyes pleaded with him. He shook his head no, but this time Kealy wasn't going to stand for it.  
  
"Vaughn, can I speak with you outside?" She asked him softly, but so that everyone heard. She marched out into the corridor, not waiting to find out if he was even following her. He had though.  
  
"Kealy if this is about Delta 5, then we've been over this!" Vaughn tried once more to lay down the law. His brows furrowed in a deep grave frown.  
  
"Vaughn, need I remind you that you brought Kate Lockley here without telling Delta 5? Before they even knew of her existence? If you can do that, then why can't you tell them about the evidence we found? You don't have to mention Delta 5 at all!" Kealy was desperate; she had to convince Vaughn that it was the right thing to do.  
  
He paused for a while. Kealy could see how difficult this was for him. His finger ran up and down the bridge of his nose, as it always did when he was so absorbed.  
  
"Okay" he said finally. Kealy was so elated that she almost hugged him.  
  
"Thanks Vaughn!"  
  
"You're welcome! But you owe me big time!"  
  
"Okay, okay! Let's go back inside" She said impatiently, grabbing his arm and practically dragging him inside. They were met with very curious stares.  
  
"I'll leave you to explain this one Vaughn, since you obviously know more about it than I do" Kealy directed everyone's attention to her colleague.  
  
But Vaughn was having none of it. "Oh no Kealy! You want them to know, so you are going to tell them!" He shot her a quick glance which was full of meaning. If his eyes could have spoken to her they would have said "Be careful what you say"  
  
"What is this about?" Mark asked, he could see that there was evidently something going on between the two agents.  
  
"Yeah!" Steve piped up, "If you have some new information about this case, then spill!"  
  
"It's not quite as simple as that" Kealy was choosing her words very carefully. "what I'm about to tell you must not leave this room, understood?"  
  
Everyone nodded, Kate Lockley included. If there was something she didn't know about demons then she was happy to be enlightened. She had, after all, spent the past few years demon hunting.  
  
The room grew silent as Kealy began to talk. Nervously at first, but then growing in confidence. She told them about the sword that had been recovered after Jesse's attack, about how Jesse's blood had been identified on the shaft. Everybody was enraptured as she spoke, completely in her power, desperate to know what she knew.  
  
"The CIA had the sword checked out, naturally, to see if the finger prints of Jesse's attacked could be detected on the hilt. Well, we did find something, but it certainly wasn't what we expected to find. On the hilt we found some cells, and they weren't human, in fact they weren't part of any species known to exist on this planet."  
  
The room was filled with a stunned silence. Mark, Steve and Amanda could not accept what they had just heard. It was true, all of it was true! Jesse hadn't been lying, he hadn't made it all up! And they hadn't believed him.  
  
"Why didn't you tell us about this before?" Mark said, his voice laden with shock, "Does Jesse know?"  
  
"Yes he knows" Vaughn stepped in, knowing that Kealy was exhausted. "And the reason that she didn't tell you was because I wouldn't let her. This information is extremely confidential, you have no idea how may laws I'm breaking by even letting you know about this!"  
  
"Then why tell us now" Amanda said. She was very worried about Mark, he looked as if he had aged ten years, and he was very pale. Steve also was a cause for concern. He hadn't said a word. Demons walked the earth! It couldn't get much worse than that!  
  
"Because. . .I don't know, it just seemed right! I felt that you were all trustworthy. I hope I wasn't wrong"  
  
Steve stood suddenly, and moved swiftly towards the door.  
  
"Steve!" Mark yelled, "Where are you going?"  
  
Steve stopped short and turned to face the room. It pained him greatly to do so. "I-I need some time alone Dad"  
  
"Steve you can't run away all the time! You need to stay and discuss this!" Mark grew frantic.  
  
"I can't Dad. I just can't! Oh, and Agent Vaughn? You don't need to worry about me telling anyone about this. I've already failed Jesse once, I don't want to repeat that!" He slammed the door after him, leaving behind him a caved in world.  
  
* * * *  
  
"AGAIN?" James Seville roared at the two lawyers. "You mean to tell me that you failed again?"  
  
They could do nothing more than answer "Yes" stiffly. Trying not to let their fear become evident to this mountain of a man. "Please, just give us one more chance!" Lindsay Macdonald pleaded.  
  
"Give me one reason!" Seville could feel his anger simmering inside of him.  
  
The nerve of these people!  
  
"We'll let you have full control!" Lindsay said earnestly, "Where else are you going to find the, uh, "resources" that we can offer? You tell us exactly what you want done, and we'll do it!"  
  
"Hmm" Seville thought for a moment, "You do have a point, I won't be able to find anyone else who deals in demons and vampires who'd be willing to do my bidding! All right! But I'm to have full control, and we'll discuss payment later"  
  
The relief between the two lawyers was palpable. They couldn't believe they'd just secured a deal like this!  
  
"Right, now where to start!" Seville relished the chance of being in control once more, he rooted around in a large briefcase before bringing out a large photograph. He turned it around slowly, so that the lawyers could see it. "Bring me this man!" He announced, pointing to the man in the picture. "His name is Lieutenant Steve Sloan"  
  
To be continued. . . 


	9. Host

Hey everyone! Thank god the exams are over!! Now I just have to wait till August when my results come. . . Anyway, computer probs have meant that I couldn't get the chapter up before now, so I'm really sorry about the wait, but I couldn't do anything about it!  
  
It's great to be back! Enjoy!  
  
All disclaimers apply  
  
Battling Past Demons chapter 9: Host  
  
Jesse Travis stared at his watch for what seemed like the millionth time. Waiting for Angel to surface was like waiting for paint to dry. Nightfall wasn't for a few hours yet, and everyone was sitting around the hotel reception twiddling their thumbs. Cordelia was reading a magazine, Gunn was staring at a can of beer, Wes had his nose in a dusty volume containing god knew what, and Doyle was absent mindedly gazing in Cordelia's general direction, his eyes glassy.  
  
All this was so far away from life at Community General for Jesse. There, there was never a dull moment, well. . .usually, but here? It was hard, he barely knew these people, and he missed his friends. He thought about phoning Kealy, and reached for his mobile phone. His finger hovered over the speed dial, and he was just about to press it when the phone rang suddenly. Jesse almost dropped the phone in surprise. It was Kealy.  
  
"Hey Jess! It's me"  
  
"It's great to hear from you! How'd it go?"  
  
"Well, I got them to believe it -"  
  
"That's great!"  
  
"But. . .they're all a little shocked, and Steve's walked out, we don't know where he's gone" There was silence on Jesse's end of the phone. He didn't quite know how to respond to this news.  
  
"Jesse?"  
  
"Yeah I'm still here, just. . .a little freaked out. Steve never usually reacts like this unless something's really affected him"  
  
"So, what are you gonna do now?"  
  
"Well we're all waiting for Angel to wake up, but until then we can't do anything, and the waiting is really killing me!" Jesse tried to lighten the mood.  
  
"Okay, well I just wanted to let you know. Jesse, don't worry about Steve, he'll be fine! Love you!"  
  
"Love you too" Jesse said softly, and sighed as he hung up the phone. Everyone was watching him as if he might break into pieces; he tried to ignore them and settled back into the couch to wait until nightfall.  
  
* * * *  
  
After what seemed like a lifetime, Angel finally emerged from his room and descended the hotel staircase. He went immediately to the fridge and took a large swig of blood from the glass in the fridge. Wiping the blood from his lips, he made his way into the center of the reception area. "Okay guys, I've been thinking, the only way to find out the extent of what's really going on, is to go to the Host" The eyes of everyone in the room except for Jesse, glittered in understanding.  
  
"The Host?" Jesse said nervously, it sounded a little foreboding.  
  
"Jesse the Host is harmless, he runs a demon bar downtown, we're just gonna go there and see him!" Cordelia laughed at the scared expression on Jesse's face.  
  
"Oh" Jesse said, relieved. His features lightened and he became more enthusiastic about the idea. "So what exactly does this Host guy do, apart from running some bar?"  
  
"The Host can tell you the future, sort of like a fortune teller" Doyle explained, deliberately leaving out the most important part. He had a slight smirk on his face, which made Jesse think that there was something that they weren't telling him, but he didn't know what.  
  
The Caritas's Bar looked just like any other bar, Jesse was thinking as Angel's black convertible pulled up outside. But as he went inside, he began to get more apprehensive. The room was filled with demons. Some sitting in groups at tables, some sitting at the bar. The music was pretty awful, and that was when he realized that there was a demon on the stage, singing.  
  
It was repulsive, and looked as if it's skin had melted like candle wax all over it's body. It was murdering a classic karaoke song, and Jesse cringed when it tried to hit some of the high notes. When the song was finally over, all the other demons applauded appreciatively, and Jesse saw a bright green demon stride over to the stage. His dress sense was a little camp and he had two little horns protruding from his forehead.  
  
"That's the Host!" Cordelia whispered in his ear.  
  
That was the Host? Jesse felt stupid for actually having been scared. "What's he doing?"  
  
"He's telling her what will happen to her" Doyle stepped in.  
  
"You can tell that that thing is female?" Jesse snorted in disbelief.  
  
"Jesse! That's not the point!" Cordelia scolded.  
  
"Okay, Okay! So what do I have to do to have my fortune told?"  
  
"Hmmm! I'm still not sure if you're taking this seriously. . .but I'll tell you anyway. You have to sing!"  
  
"Whoa, Whoa! Wait a sec! Sing? I don't' sing!" Jesse backed away slightly.  
  
"You will if you want to find out what's going on!" Angel piped up.  
  
"Yeah Jesse! We've all done it! You shoulda seen Angel!" Gunn laughed.  
  
"Hey!" Angel said indignantly, but with a smile on his face.  
  
"You sang?" Jesse burst out laughing, much to the pleasure of the others. He cleared his throat sheepishly as Angel gave him a hard stare, "Sorry, It's just that. . .it's hard to imagine you - "  
  
"Yeah okay! But the question is, my friend, what are you going to sing?" Angel expertly turned the joke towards the young doctor, which duly wiped the smile off his face. He was about to retort when the green Host stepped up to greet them.  
  
"Angel!" He said enthusiastically, "And friends! Who are you helping this time?" He added, looking at Jesse, who shrank back a little, suddenly feeling very shy. The Host reminded him of one of his Aunts, embarrassing and patronizing.  
  
"This is Dr. Jesse Travis" Angel announced.  
  
"Hey" Jesse responded.  
  
"Hi there. So what's the story?" The Host enquired.  
  
Angel thought it best that he should answer, so he began to tell Jesse's story, while Jesse frantically tried to think of what song he could sing. He hated singing, and he just didn't want to do it. . .yet if this was ever going to be resolved. . .  
  
"So what are you going to sing?" The Host asked the million dollar question.  
  
"I, uh, don't know" Jesse answered truthfully.  
  
"Well if you don't choose one yourself then I'll have to pick one for you!"  
  
"Uh No! Uh that won't be necessary!" Jesse jumped in quickly, "I know what to do" The Host smiled at him and then guided him towards the stage.  
  
The Host picked up the microphone, "Okay ladies and gentlemen! Next up we have a young doctor singing for us! Put your hands together for Jesse Travis!" He then handed the microphone to Jesse, who stood rigid with fear beside him. How the hell was he going to do this?  
  
Then the music began.  
  
* * * *  
  
Boy was he glad that was over! He didn't think he'd been that bad either! He stood on the stage, the applause was blinding. The Host bounded up to him and gently took the mike from him and guided him off stage.  
  
"Well! Quite a voice!"  
  
"Uh, thanks!" Jesse breathed, relieved that the ordeal was over.  
  
Angel, Cordelia, Gunn, Wes and Doyle joined them over by the stage. "Hey Jesse that was great!" Cordelia squealed as she hugged him, while Doyle looked on jealously. Jesse grinned at the reception he was receiving.  
  
"Guys, this goes nowhere okay? I don't want anyone finding out about this" Jesse pleaded, knowing exactly how Steve would react if he heard that Jesse had had to sing!  
  
"Okay, Okay! Now let's get on with this!" Angel put an end to the discussion. "Host? What did you find out?" Everyone's attention turned to the green demon as he began to relay his findings.  
  
"Right, this is a complicated one. This man James Seville, has hooked up with your favorite law firm Angel, Wolfram and Hart. They've been summoning the demons, for him and setting them on Jesse. But it appears that the arrangement has changed. Before, it had been that Wolfram and Hart were basically controlling the whole operation, but now I can see that Seville seems to be in charge, and he's doing things a little differently."  
  
"What do you mean?" Angel asked.  
  
"Seville has ordered that one of your friends be brought in Jesse"  
  
"What?" Jesse exploded, "Who? Why?"  
  
"He wants your friend Steve Sloan to be brought to him, by force. It appears that he wishes to lure you to him by using Steve as bait"  
  
"We have to get to Steve" Jesse said at once, "Kealy told me that he went off by himself, we have to find him!"  
  
"Jesse you must be careful. I sense a lot of danger here, and you may already be too late" The Host warned.  
  
The Angel Investigations team sprang into action. With a shouted thank you to the Host they raced out of the bar and leapt into the black convertible.  
  
"Go to Barbecue Bobs Now!" Jesse shouted, "That's where he'll be, I'm sure!"  
  
* * * *  
  
Steve Sloan sat in BBQ Bob's holding his third beer. He felt dreadful. The beers were doing nothing to drown his sorrows that he'd failed his friend. Years of friendship, countless times Jesse had saved his life, as a doctor, and friend. And how had he repaid him? He drained the last of the beer and set it down on the surface with a thud.  
  
He thought of his father. He felt guilty for walking out, but he hadn't been able to cope with what he was feeling about Jesse. How had things gone so badly wrong? Had it started way back in Rome? Or had it started when Jack had returned? Steve was pleased to see his old friend, but only now realized how he had ignored Jesse, and believed him to be jealous. . .  
  
He was about to pour himself another beer when the door to BBQ Bob's opened sharply. "We're closed!" Steve yelled automatically.  
  
"Oh I don't think so!" said a sinister voice that made Steve turn towards the door immediately. The sight that met him almost made his beer befuddled body fall right off his stool.  
  
Two large men stood in the doorway, each carrying a gun pointing towards Steve. "Who are you?" Steve asked shakily. "What do you want?"  
  
"We need you to come with us, now" Said the one on the right, stepping forward menacingly.  
  
"Or you'll what?" Steve played for time, knowing what the answer would be.  
  
The man raised his gun, "Or We'll kill you"  
  
Steve thought about this, he felt almost suicidal with guilt, but he also knew that his father and Jesse would be devastated without him. He couldn't die.  
  
"Okay, I'm coming" he said as he slowly stood up and put his hands behind his head. The two men came forward, one of them grabbing Steve and handcuffing him while the other kept his gun trained at Steve's head.  
  
He was shoved outside and then thrown roughly into a waiting car with darkened windows. The last thing he saw before the door closed was the blazing sign of BBQ Bob's. Would anyone know what had happened to him?  
  
He felt the engine of the car purr into life before the butt of a gun was brought down on his head.  
  
To Be Continued. . .  
  
Please review!! Pretty please!! Okay, I know it was a bit of a cop out not saying what song Jesse was singing. . .but I thought it was better to let you guys imagine it for yourselves. . .that, and I didn't have a clue anyway! It doesn't say anywhere what music Jesse likes! I hope it doesn't spoil the story!! 


	10. Last Words

Hey everyone!! Thanks for all your kind reviews!! You wanted faster updates. . . so here it is!  
  
Hope you enjoy!  
  
All disclaimers Apply.  
  
Chapter 10: Last words  
  
Mark Sloan could feel exhaustion tugging at his conscious, but he knew that he had to keep looking. When Steve had walked out of the doctor's lounge, it had hurt Mark more than he cared to admit. Seeing the pain in his son's eyes, knowing that he himself also felt that pain. . .knowing that he had played a part in causing it. . .  
  
He arrived outside BBQ Bob's to find the lights blazing. Knowing that Steve had to be in there, he shoved his tired body out of his car and forced his mind into action. Fully expecting an argument, he mentally prepared himself for Steve's reaction. He walked slowly up to the door, the "closed" sign on full display, and gently pushed it open.  
  
It was empty. No Steve. An empty beer glass sat on the counter.  
  
"Steve? You in here?" Mark called, hoping fervently that his son was in the kitchen, or bathroom, but there was no answer.  
  
Something's wrong, Mark thought, panic rising, Steve would never leave the place open, or leave the lights on if no one was here.  
  
Mark reached for his phone, but as soon as he picked it up, he heard the shrill ring of Steve's mobile phone. Some light searching told him that it was behind the counter, near the till. He pressed the answer button and held it close to his ear.  
  
"Steve?" asked a familiar voice.  
  
"Jesse? Is that you?" Mark asked, bewildered.  
  
"Yeah Mark, listen, Where's Steve?" There was extreme urgency in his voice.  
  
"I don't know, I'm at BBQ Bob's, there's strong evidence that he was here, but I don't know where he is now. When I arrived the lights were on and the door was open"  
  
"Steve would never leave the place like that! Listen Mark, Steve is in real danger. I may know where they've taken him"  
  
"Where who's taken him? Jesse what's going on?" Mark sensed that something big was happening, his tired body springing immediately into life.  
  
"I don't have time to explain properly, but Seville's got Steve, we think he's taken him to a law firm called Wolfram and Hart and that's where we're going now!"  
  
"But Jesse I - " Mark tried to protest.  
  
"Mark, we'll get him back" Then there was a click, as Jesse hung up.  
  
After a short pause to take in this news, Mark's brain churned into action as he began fiercely dialling the buttons on his phone. Amanda answered after the third ring.  
  
"Mark have you found him yet" she asked immediately.  
  
"Well, it's a lot more complicated than that now Amanda! I can't explain right now, but get everyone down here to BBQ Bob's!" Mark relayed the instructions as calmly as he could.  
  
"Mark what's going on?" Amanda's tone conveyed confusion, and fear.  
  
"Steve's in danger" Mark whispered. Amanda didn't need to hear anymore, she assured him that they would come immediately.  
  
Mark sighed and slumped down on a stool to wait, he couldn't quite shake the feeling that he could have prevented all of this if he'd just listened to Jesse in the first place. It was all his fault.  
  
* * * *  
  
Somewhere over the Atlantic, a man in his late fifties sat nervously on a large passenger aircraft. He was copiously checking his watch over and over again, knowing that it was only a matter of time. Seville was about to strike his final blow, and there was nothing he could do until he got off this damn plane!  
  
The pilot's voice interrupted his tense thoughts. "This is your pilot speaking. We are due to arrive in LA in ten minutes, local time is 10.15 pm and the weather is calm and dry. Please return to your seats and fasten your seatbelts as we prepare to land. Thank you"  
  
The man could feel the adrenaline surging through his veins as the plane began it's descent.  
  
* * * *  
  
Upon hearing that Steve was not at BBQ Bob's, Angel had wrenched the steering wheel of his black convertible and swung the car round in a U- turn, it's destination: Wolfram and Hart Law firm.  
  
Gunn patted Jesse's shoulder reassuringly as the car transported them.  
  
"He'll be okay Jess! We'll get him back!"  
  
"I sure hope so! Steve's my best buddy, sometimes I feel like he's my big brother! We've been through so much together" He turned towards Gunn, "I'm scared"  
  
"I know" Gunn said softly, knowing that he'd feel the same if it were Angel, Cordy or Doyle.  
  
Jesse's heart rate was through the roof when the car pulled up silently in front of the law firm. The doctor inside him couldn't help but wonder at his blood pressure levels.  
  
The building itself looked fairly innocuous, but once they had entered, Jesse could feel the sinister atmosphere of the place. The Host had said that Seville was holed up in the basement, so they found a stairwell which led down.  
  
"Angel, shouldn't that vampire alarm thing that they have here been set off?" Cordelia asked.  
  
"Ordinarily it would, but I have a feeling they want us here"  
  
They descended slowly, aware of each and every noise. The further down they went, the more the place seemed to look like the dungeons of a castle.  
  
"Okay, so this wasn't what I expected" Jesse whispered, a little freaked out by his surroundings.  
  
They rounded a corner and came face to face with a huge cavernous room. Little torch fires burned along the damp stone walls. At the back of the room, Steve was lolling forward, obviously unconscious, his wrists enclosed in chains joined to the wall. There was a trickle of blood on his forehead.  
  
Jesse gave an involuntary gasp and began to move towards his friend when Angel laid firm handgrip on his shoulder. It was then that he noticed Seville, flanked by a man and a woman, standing with a smug grin on their faces. Seville looked terrible, clearly having not recovered well from the bomb that had ripped his terrorist organisation apart. Half of his face was red with unhealed burns.  
  
"Ah! Doctor Travis! Long time no see! As you've no doubt noticed, we've been expecting you!" He turned his gaze towards Angel and his friends. "So this is the famous Angel! You will probably recognise Lilah and Lindsay" He announced, indicating the two lawyers at his side.  
  
"My face" said Seville, after a moment of silence in the room, correctly interpreting Jesse's concerned eyes. Jesse, having been unable to quell his doctor side, had been giving Seville's face the once over with his eyes. " I suppose you're wondering why I never had it treated, well I thought it completed the super-villain image!"  
  
Jesse burned with anger. "What do you want Seville?"  
  
"I would have thought that was evident!" Seville scoffed, "I want you, that's why I've been entertaining your friend here!" He gestured towards Steve's still form.  
  
"Let him go!" Jesse shouted, in a voice which he had not known himself capable of, "Take me but let him go!"  
  
Cordelia gasped as he said this. "Jesse you can't! He'll kill you!" She pleaded with him.  
  
"I have to agree" Angel said, "This is not the way!"  
  
"Guys, you've been great! I've really appreciated your help, but this is my fight! I need to do this!"  
  
"But Jesse - " this time Gunn protested.  
  
"Please, just take Steve and get him to safety!" Jesse interrupted their efforts to stop him. He moved forward into the room. "I'll do it" he said firmly to Seville.  
  
"I knew you would" Seville smiled smugly, and drew out his gun. "Lilah, Lindsay, unshackle Lieutenant Sloan and escort him to Angel and his friends. And doctor Travis you will not move an inch while this is carried out or I will kill everyone. Got that?"  
  
Jesse nodded slowly. His eyes locked on Steve as the two lawyers unlocked the shackles and roughly dragged him to his feet. Steve groaned and mumbled something incoherent. Jesse felt an extreme need to move towards his friend, but Seville, seeing immediately what Jesse was feeling, raised the gun and cleared his throat. All Jesse could do was stare dumbly as Steve was dragged across the room and thrown at Angel, who caught him squarely and gently pulled him up.  
  
"Take care of him" Jesse said, as Angel reluctantly carried Steve out of the room. "Tell him it had to be this way"  
  
Seville watched the dialogue between them; it was interesting to him, having never formed any close relationships himself. He saw Jesse's gaze gradually return to him, and he smiled. At last he would have his revenge!  
  
"Lilah, Lindsay, place Doctor Travis in the shackles" Seville barked, taking real pleasure out of the fear in Jesse's eyes.  
  
Jesse could feel the cold dread seep through his body as Seville's orders were carried out. He was shoved hard against the wall, and each wrist lifted and enclosed in the cold, heavy chains. So this was how it would end, he thought hopelessly, alone and at Seville's mercy. Oh well! At least Steve was safe, it was all he could ask for.  
  
"Any last words?" Seville licked his lips, savouring the moment.  
  
There was silence as Jesse contemplated his answer.  
  
"Why me?" Jesse asked softly, "What did I ever do?"  
  
"It wasn't because of anything you did, it was about how much they cared about you. This is for them."  
  
"Who?" Jesse tried desperately to stall for time.  
  
"Your father and Kealy Banks. This will hit them hard, and that is much more satisfying to me than killing them would be. I hope they feel guilty for the rest of their lives." He spat, raising the gun so that it was level with Jesse's head.  
  
Jesse's eyes widened as Seville's finger pulled the trigger.  
  
To Be Continued. . .  
  
How will Jesse survive? Please review!! 


	11. Sacrificial Protection

Hey everyone! Thanks always for your reviews, you guys are too generous!! Well, I'm finally done! The story is complete and there is also an epilogue too. Aren't I good to you?!  
  
All disclaimers apply.  
  
Chapter 11: Sacrificial Protection  
  
Mark heard the screech of car tires outside and knew inherently that they had arrived. He ran outside to meet them, and was met with a giant bear hug from Amanda; her eyes were brimmed with tears.  
  
"Mark are you okay? I'm sorry, that was a really stupid question!" her voice was thick as she laughed nervously, trying to ease the tension. Although Steve was always getting himself into trouble, this time it was different and nobody knew how to act.  
  
They broke apart, and Mark looked at Kealy. She looked as terrified as he felt. Jesse's a big part of this too, Mark reminded himself. He wouldn't have put it past Jesse to deeply endanger himself to save Steve, something which made Mark feel even more guilty. If he lost them both. . .Fear gripped his heart, as he tried frantically to keep calm.  
  
"What do we do?" Jack said as he joined the group, Kate Lockley at his side; both looked anxious. Jack was gravely concerned for Steve.  
  
"Jesse said something about a law firm called Wolfram and Hart. I suggest we start there" Mark asserted, trying to quell the feelings of hopelessness.  
  
"I've dealt with them before, I know where it is!" Kate piped up, glad that finally she could assist with something.  
  
"Hold on Mark!" Kealy interjected, "You still haven't told us what's going on!" Her face was alive with frustration and anxiety; her eyes were bloodshot as their gaze met.  
  
Mark took a deep breath, sending much needed oxygen to his brain "Well, I don't know the full story, but what I managed to learn from Jesse was that Seville had had these people from Wolfram and Hart kidnap Steve. I don't know why. And then Jesse said that he was going there, and that he would get Steve back" He brushed a hand through his ruffled, grey hair.  
  
"If Seville kidnapped Steve then there's only one reason why he would do that!" Kealy exclaimed, as the realisation of what Seville was planning hit her suddenly. "He wants to lure Jesse to him! He's going to kill him!" The panic was evident in her voice.  
  
"We need to get to Wolfram and Hart right now!" Vaughn yelled, throughout all the chaos that Kealy's outburst had caused. "I'll call for CIA backup!"  
  
* * * *  
  
Angel, Cordy, Gunn, Wes and Doyle made slow progress up the stairs. The atmosphere between them was fraught, and each was fighting the urge to go back down there to Jesse. But Jesse had made his feelings clear, they were to take Steve to safety, and that was what they would do. They knew that what Jesse had done had been reckless, but they could not suppress their pride at having known such a person. Jesse was special all right, and they had felt an affinity with him; he was brave and selfless, and they would always remember him.  
  
They were bracing themselves for a gunshot, and they knew that the longer the wait, the worse it would probably be for Jesse. God knew what they were doing to him down there. Any one of them would have stayed for him, but they could also see the bigger picture. It was better for one of them to die than for all of them to die; and Angel could not endanger the lives of his close friends.  
  
Steve hung limply from Angel's grasp, but was showing signs of waking up. Angel knew he would guard the man with his life. The group had not managed to get halfway up the staircase before he had started to struggle. He leapt out of Angel's grip and was disorientated for a moment, his face screwed up in puzzlement and fear.  
  
"It's okay!" Cordelia said, in as reassuring a manner as she could. "You're safe now!"  
  
"Where's Jesse?" Steve asked angrily as he looked up, instantly recognising the faces around him. Part of him already knew the answer; if he was here with them, then Jesse had to be. . . "How could you let him do it!" His tone was accusatory.  
  
"You know what he's like when he gets an idea in his head!" Gunn raised his voice, "He was hell-bent on getting you out of there! There was no stopping him! He said it had to be this way!"  
  
So engaged were the group in their argument, that they didn't notice a figure pass by them in the shadows, his fear rising as he gleaned from their dialogue the knowledge that the thing he had feared the most was indeed about to happen. I haven't got much time! He thought desperately, drawing out his gun.  
  
"Well we have to get down there!" Steve argued, "I can't let him die!"  
  
"Do you want to get yourself killed!" Angel asked, grasping him by the shoulders, "What use is that? Jesse sacrificed himself for you! Do you want that sacrifice to have been for nothing by getting yourself killed?"  
  
"That sacrifice should never have been made in the first place!" Steve whispered, his resolve weakening to devastation, Jesse was going to let himself die so that he, Steve, could live! It was too much to bear, as he realised that there was nothing he could do. If he didn't go down, Jesse would die, if he did go down, Jesse would die and in all likelihood he would too!  
  
"I uh, I don't know what to do" he admitted, that was something that he rarely experienced, especially as a police officer; but it was precisely because he was a police officer that he felt guilty about not knowing what course of action to take. His mind took him back to his friends; would they ever forgive him for whatever he decided to do, for letting Jesse die or letting himself die?  
  
"Join the club" Doyle said hopelessly.  
  
"What am I going to do?" Steve's voice was thick with panic, and his hands were balled into fists.  
  
Then they heard a shot. It rang out through the darkness and stopped their quarrel in an instant. It took a few seconds for it to sink in. . .  
  
"JESSE!" Steve shouted. He ran forward, but was held back by Wes and Gunn, who looked devastated themselves.  
  
"NOOOO!" Cordelia yelled, tears streaming down her cheeks. Angel himself looked shocked, and none of them spoke as Cordelia shook with silent tears and Steve looked as if a train had hit him.  
  
"I don't' care anymore!" Steve said determinedly, "I'm going down there and you can't stop me! He's going to pay for what he did!" He pushed them aside and stumbled down the stairs. They watched him go, feeling as if they should have stopped him, but knowing that they never could have.  
  
* * * *  
  
Jesse instinctively shrank back as he heard the shot echo round the large room, expecting extreme agony to hit him.  
  
It took him ten seconds to realise that he wasn't dead. He slowly opened his eyes, and saw James Seville fall to the ground before him, his eyes shocked and wide with pain. Crimson liquid was blossoming out of a deep wound in his shoulder, and the man began writhing in distress. The gun, that only a few seconds before had been about to kill Jesse, lay discarded a few metres away.  
  
Jesse tore his eyes from Seville and looked up. Lilah and Lindsay were standing on the other side of the room, their faces shocked and more than a little scared. Finally, Jesse's eyes came to rest upon his saviour; The person he had least expected to walk into the room.  
  
"Dad?" Jesse asked softly, feeling like a small child.  
  
Dane Travis stood framed in the doorway, a gun half raised in his right hand. A look of quiet triumph on his face. His gaze met Jesse's, and for the first time, there was a glimmer of understanding. Jesse could see the deep and heartfelt relief in his father's eyes, and had never felt so loved by the man on whom he had given up all hope.  
  
"Jesse!" Dane exclaimed, breaking the spell "Are you alright?"  
  
"Yeah, just. . ." distractedly Jesse rattled the chains binding his wrists.  
  
"Of course!" his father replied anxiously. For the first time, his gaze fell upon the two lawyers who were huddling in one corner, staring at the blood rising out of Seville's shoulder. "You two!" He growled at them, raising his gun, "Unlock my son!" While this was carried out, he spoke for a few seconds on his radio and called for a CIA pick up team for Lilah and Lindsay.  
  
Dane Travis did not relax until the deed was done. Jesse heaved himself up and walked slowly over to his dad.  
  
"I didn't know you cared" Jesse whispered, feeling as though he was dreaming.  
  
"I never stopped caring" Dane smiled slightly, and then pulled his son into an embrace.  
  
Lilah and Lindsay swept past, taking their chance to get out. "Dad, what about. . .?" Jesse protested as they went.  
  
"Let them go son, they won't get past Angel!"  
  
There was a moment of stillness, which was broken by scuffing footsteps and a heavily panting Steve running through the door. He stopped short at the sight of father and son, his eyes almost popping out of his head.  
  
"Jesse?" Steve gasped, bewildered.  
  
"Steve?" Jesse exhaled, equally bewildered. "I thought Angel took you to safety!" he continued, moving towards Steve now as Dane released his grip.  
  
"I thought you got shot!" Steve couldn't help smiling out of sheer relief. He reached out and touched Jesse's shoulder, and said more seriously "I thought I'd lost you"  
  
Dane sensed the importance of this reunion between the two friends, so he tactfully stepped out of the room and headed up stairs find Angel.  
  
* * * *  
  
The small convoy of vehicles that contained Mark, Amanda, Kate, Kealy, Vaughn and Jack screeched to a halt outside Wolfram and Hart. Tension was running high among the group; each worried in their own ways about Steve and Jesse.  
  
Mark was at the head of the group as they hurried towards the front doors. Suddenly, a large group of people burst through them. Angel strode forward, his black leather jacket billowing out behind him. Cordelia was at his side, and Wes, Gunn and Doyle were holding between them a man and a woman.  
  
Kate stepped in front of Mark, because he looked dubious about speaking to the vampire. "Angel, what happened? Where are Steve and Jesse?" She asked shrilly.  
  
"I can answer that" a new voice entered the equation.  
  
"Dane?" Mark exhaled in disbelief. "What the-"  
  
"When I heard what Seville was planning, I came at once" His eyes showed a real fear at what might have been. He looked round at the group, guessing immediately the question that was at the tip of their tongues. "They're fine!"  
  
Everyone smiled with pure relief as the weight lifted from their shoulders. They were okay!  
  
"Where are they?" Mark asked, desperate to see his son and surrogate son.  
  
"They're down in the basement, I think we should leave them time to re- acquaint themselves" Dane's eyes twinkled. "Seville's down there awaiting a CIA pickup. Don't worry" he added hastily at the look on Mark's face. "He won't be a danger!" Mark's taut features relaxed, and he grinned for the first time in what seemed like years.  
  
* * * *  
  
There was a heavy silence now between two men now, as each contemplated what to say. Both knew that words would not be good enough.  
  
"Steve, I - " Jesse began. Steve cut across him.  
  
"Jesse what did you think you were doing?" He accused, angrily. It was not out of anger for his friend, but more out of anger at himself. He had caused this!  
  
"Oh, I dunno. Maybe, I was. . .saving your life!" Jesse joked, trying to hide the tension between them in the only way he knew how. He sighed at the irritated look Steve shot him, "Steve, you know it was the only way! I'd already endangered your life. I could never have lived with myself if I'd let you die so that I could live! And besides, you would have done the same for me! You would, wouldn't you. . .?" he added uncertainly.  
  
"Of course!" Steve said immediately, "But that doesn't mean I agree with what you did! I'm just glad you're okay!"  
  
"You and me both!" Jesse agreed. He glanced over at Seville, "Well, I suppose that's the last I'll see of him!" He laughed, a smile dawning on his face. Steve could see a shade of the old Jesse shining through, and it gave him hope that things could still return to normal between them.  
  
"Jess?" Steve said, quietly, in a tone of voice which made Jesse turn back to him at once. He had to say this now, or the time would never be right. "I uh, I don't know where to start" he paused apprehensively, "I'm so sorr- "  
  
"Steve you don't need to say this" Jesse stopped him.  
  
"No Jesse I do. I'm sorry about the way I treated you; I acted like a jerk and all this stuff would never have happened if I'd just believed you" Steve was finding this very difficult, and Jesse could see this. He made a noise as if to speak, but Steve held up his hand. "I'm sorry about what I said about Jack, I couldn't see past him for a while. I just hope that things can go back to normal" he finished with a small chuckle, and looked up, at first unaware that he had been looking at the floor.  
  
Jesse's eyes were warm and friendly he smiled at Steve, "Steve, I can understand why you didn't believe me, and I don't in any way blame you for what happened. All of this would have happened regardless of whether or not you'd all believed me" He could see his smile reflected in Steve's face, "And Steve. . .of course things can return to normal! I'm willing if you are!" He patted Steve on the shoulder.  
  
"Friends?" Steve asked, finally sure of what Jesse's answer would be.  
  
"Friends!" Jesse agreed enthusiastically, "Now, I think we should head upstairs"  
  
As they headed towards the door, they were passed by some CIA operatives who raced into the room and began sedating the broken man on the floor, preparing him for transportation.  
  
Jesse and Steve shared a grin as they knew that they could finally close the chapter of their nightmare.  
  
Read on for the Epilogue. . . 


	12. Epilogue

Epilogue  
  
Doctor Jesse Travis strode purposefully through the reception area, dodging nurses and supply carts in his haste to get to the doctor's lounge. It had been a long shift, and he couldn't wait for some well-earned coffee. He wiped a patch of sweat from his forehead as he entered the room.  
  
Why had he ever been so desperate to return to his job? He could have had two months sick leave! But instead. . .he had chosen to return to work!  
  
* * * *  
  
Weeks had passes since James Seville had been taken into custody. Where he was and what he was doing now was anyone's guess. Jesse supposed he'd never really hear about what had eventually happened to him. He didn't really care anyway, he was just glad it was over. Dane Travis had returned to work with the CIA, but not before spending a few days with his son though, leaving the promise of a fishing trip later on. Promises like this had been left before, and had never been honoured, but now at least Jesse felt an affinity with him. They were closer now than they had ever been before; A new-found kinship had been established. Their relationship would never be like that of Steve and Mark's, but it was improving.  
  
His situation with Kealy, however, was worsening. Somehow, the CIA had found out about her leak of information concerning Delta 5. She was being investigated. This put a strain not only on herself, but also on their relationship. Arguments plagued them, and bickering was driving a wedge between them. How Kealy would be disciplined, they did not know, but there was a distinct possibility of her being fired. If that happened, he didn't know how their relationship would survive it. It was basically his fault that she had told everyone and he felt responsible.  
  
Jack had returned to Colorado the previous week. Mark, Amanda and Steve had been very sad to see him go, but Jesse was secretly glad; It meant that they could all focus on getting their friendship back on track without any interruptions.  
  
Jesse had promised to keep in touch with Angel and the gang, he owed them so much, and he had really grown to like them. As a gesture of thanks, he had offered them free medical care if they ever had an accident with any demons, but only if they didn't get him involved. He'' seen enough demons for one lifetime!  
  
* * * *  
  
Assuming a reasonably normal expression onto his face, Jesse's eyes swept the room. It was not empty.  
  
Doctor Mark Sloan was sitting by himself on one of the couches, reading a medical journal, his glasses slightly askew on his face. His features were scrunched up in a look of deep concentration. Jesse chuckled at the sight.  
  
Mark looked up instantly, startled for a moment, and then smiled a welcome at his friend. "Hey Jesse, how's it going?"  
  
"Ugh! I don't know why I ever came back to work! I need coffee urgently!" Jesse said with a twinkle in his eye.  
  
Mark laughed while Jesse hurried over to the coffee pot and poured himself a large mug. Taking a sip, he joked, "Still tastes as good as ever!" He sat down next to Mark, who patted his back in a fatherly gesture.  
  
After a moment of amiable silence between them, Mark decided to ask the question which had been on his mind for a while. Jesse looked fine on the outside, but inside it would be a different story. He pondered how to phrase his question; it was, after all, a difficult subject.  
  
"Jess, how are things with Kealy? I mean, when the CIA found out that she'd told us about Delta 5. . .?" Mark instantly regretted his words as the grin evaporated from Jesse's face.  
  
The worry lines on Jesse's forehead were evident as he frowned. "She has her disciplinary hearing today. . .I, uh, was kinda trying to forget about it"  
  
"I'm sorry" Mark apologised, feeling tactless, "I didn't mean to bring it up. . .it's just that we all care about Kealy. What about Vaughn?"  
  
"Well, Kealy's gonna try and keep him out of it, they don't know that he was there and that he authorised her to tell you guys"  
  
Mark was ridden with guilt. It seemed that his actions had well and truly ruined the life of his friend; it was, of course, his fault that Kealy had told them in the first place, and now she was in trouble for it.  
  
"Jesse. . ." Mark began.  
  
"Mark I know what you're going to say. It's not your fault; Kealy is an adult capable of making her own decisions, she made the choice to tell you" Jesse assured him, "Besides, if I hadn't been in trouble she would never have said anything"  
  
"Yeah but if it wasn't for me-" Mark protested, removing his glasses and staring intently into Jesse's eyes.  
  
"Mark, I don't blame you and nor does she. Okay?" Jesse said gently, returning the gaze.  
  
"Yeah, okay. Well, that's my break over, I've got some rounds to do. Give Kealy my love when you see her" Mark said, half groaning as he heaved himself out of his seat.  
  
"I will" Jesse called after him. That hadn't felt natural at all. Mark had seemed uncomfortable; he really hoped that things would re-adjust back to normal again, things were getting a little strained.  
  
* * * *  
  
Jesse sat watching football highlights in the darkened living room of his apartment. It was getting late and still Kealy was not home. Jesse was on his fifth pizza slice and his third beer, and was beginning to feel a little nauseous.  
  
After another hour, Kealy's key finally scraped through the lock and Jesse was on his feet by the time the door was open.  
  
She looked vulnerable and upset. Jesse crossed the room in three quick strides and pulled her into a hug. Still they had not said a word to each other.  
  
Along moment passed, and then Kealy pulled away. Her long dark hair framed her tear stained face in a way that made Jesse almost fall in love with her all over again. "What happened?" he asked in a whisper.  
  
Kealy broke down and sobbed into his arms.  
  
"Have they fired you?" Jesse questioned her, his voice soothing against her anguish. She shook her head no.  
  
He waited patiently until she caught her composure, "It's not as simple as that. I can keep my job, but I'm on probation, and. . .Jesse they're transferring me to New York." She began to sob, "They're taking away the one thing I love the most, the one chance of happiness that I have. They're taking me away from you"  
  
Jesse hugged her close, unable to hide his own devastation. "How long for?" he whispered, hoping against hope that it was only temporary.  
  
"Permanently"  
  
* * * *  
  
They spent the night in each other's arms, making the most of the time they had left. Kealy was to leave in a few days, so Jesse took some time off work.  
  
The two of them tried to make light of the situation, tried to smile and be happy; but neither could keep their sadness at bay. They went round for a meal at the Sloans, a goodbye dinner. The cheeriness on that night was bittersweet, with everyone keeping up a jolly façade. They all felt like actors in a movie, hearing themselves laughing but knowing that their hearts were not in it. Mark, Steve and Amanda could see Jesse's pain and it made it all the worse that they could do nothing to alleviate it.  
  
Their time together eventually had to end though, and Jesse, Mark, Steve and Amanda accompanied Kealy to the airport. A final farewell.  
  
"I love you Jesse" Kealy whispered as she hugged him one last time.  
  
"I love you too" Jesse returned, his voice choked with emotion.  
  
She turned to leave, shooting him one last glance, before handing her ticket to a hostess and passing through the gate. Jesse gave her a small wave, and forced his mouth into a smile, wanting her to remember him happy rather than sad.  
  
For a moment he felt all alone, but then he sensed the presence of his closest friends behind him and turned to embrace each in turn. He knew now that they would support him.  
  
They would always be there for him.  
  
THE END  
  
Hope you enjoyed reading this story! I sure enjoyed writing it!  
  
Please review! This is my second complete story and I would like to know what you thought as a whole.  
  
Hopefully I will be back soon with another story, but until then. . .Bye! 


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